Two Sides of the Same Coin
by OneMan Alchemist
Summary: Emma is an average girl, nothing special about her. She's obsessed with an anime known as Fullmetal Alchemist, and like most die-hard fans wishes she could live there. But Emma doesn't expect her wish to be granted, and when she lands in a different universe, finds it's not all what she thought it would be.
1. Chapter 1

Two Sides of the Same Coin

I sighed in exasperation as I turned off my computer. I flopped back into my chair, glaring at the screen. I had no internet, meaning there was absolutely nothing I could do. Of course, of course, I just had to lose it on a Saturday, when I didn't have a crap ton of homework to do that was due the next day. The world just had to turn against me.

I stood up after about ten minutes of thinking about nothing. I took one last swig of my mountain dew and left my room. I went downstairs and into the kitchen, where Mom was starting supper. I sat down at the table and sulked. Mom noticed this and looked over at me. "What's wrong, honey?" She asked me, somehow chopping celery and looking up at me at the same time.

"My internet is down, I have absolutely nothing to do anymore." I pouted, propping my elbow up on the table and resting my chin on my fist.

"Well, why don't you go outside and swim for awhile? We put up the pool awhile ago, but you never swim. You used to swim all the time when you were younger." Mom remarked.

"I then discovered the wonders of the internet and anime. It has forever taken over my soul. But I suppose now that I have neither, I will take you up on that offer." Ah, Fullmetal Alchemist. That anime had taken over my soul. I stood back up, running upstairs to my room to change into my swimsuit.

I didn't understand why I ran. I couldn't really go very far without running out of breath and taking a few minutes to compose myself. I had problems with my lungs, but never thought it necessary to go to a doctor about them. I couldn't even run a mile at school without it causing so much pain that I burst into tears. Stairs were also difficult. Therefore, I always made life harder on myself by running whenever I got the chance.

I frowned upon entering my room. For some reason or another, my computer was back on and the screen was white as fresh snow. I walked up to it and grabbed the mouse, wiggling it around. The cursor didn't show up. I groaned in annoyance. I hit the space button a few times, but nothing happened. I swear I turned it off! My brothers weren't at home and Mom was downstairs the whole time that I was.

Suddenly, a burning pain flashed through the arm that was connected to the hand I had resting on the mouse. I yelped. "Ow! God, what was that for?!" I held my injured arm close to me. "You know what? Screw you, you're being an ass!" I insulted my computer, almost as if expecting it to talk back to me.

I turned around, but froze in my tracks when my vision went fuzzy, throwing me off balance. I grabbed onto my chair. It felt as if someone was putting immense pressure on my head. I waited a few seconds for it to pass, but it didn't so I decided to lie down. I began to make my way to my bed, but halfway there lost my footing and collapsed onto the ground.

When I sat back up, I realized I wasn't in my room anymore. In fact, I had no clue where I was. Everything around me was white, kind of like my computer screen. I rubbed my temples, realizing I wasn't dizzy anymore. "Hello?" I called out. My voice echoed around me as if I was in a box.

I heard a weird noise behind me, so I spun around, finding myself face to face with a gate that looked awfully familiar. I pushed myself to my feet and walked forward, inspecting the huge gate. I grinned childishly, then reached out and poked it. Stone, definitely stone of some sort. I poked it again and again, amusing myself.

"What exactly are you trying to accomplish?" I spun around at the sudden voice, cheeks pink in embarrassment. I frowned slightly at seeing the source of the voice. Definitely familiar. It was white, and would have blended in with the background where it not for the black aura it was emitting.

"Um... Nothing exactly..." I muttered. I decided to act clueless. "Who are you?"

"Come now, I am aware that you know who I am." I could almost see a smirk on its nonexistent face.

"Fine, Truth. What do you want with me?" I crossed my arms over my chest, attempting to seem a lot more confident than I felt.

Well, this wasn't weird at all. From what I knew, Truth was part of an anime that was all fantasy, made up. Now he was sitting in front of me, staring at me, which was giving me an eerie feeling. I knew this was a dream, but it was vivid. Despite being nervous, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't half-hoping this was real.

"I have a question. If given the choice, would you continue through the gate to the place you've always wanted to go, or would you go back to your home universe?" Truth inquired.

I thought for a moment, before grinning. "Aw, this is a hella dream. You know what? I'm a good person, I'll play along. Send me through the gate!" I declared, anime sparkles in my eyes.

"Very well. I leave you with a parting gift. You will, however, have to pay a toll."

Shit, I forgot about that. Before I had the chance to ask what present I was getting, the gate behind me opened up, and little black whisps with hands grabbed onto me. My arms, legs, torso, and face were covered in the black smoky tendrils. I decided not to look back at the creepy eyes. I was tugged into the gate, the darkness hiding Truth from my vision.

It was about then that the worst pain I had ever felt suddenly pulsed through me. I whimpered, biting my lip. This wasn't anything I couldn't handle though. As soon as that thought entered my head, the pain suddenly ten folded. It felt like I was being burned from the inside out. A blood curdling scream left me. "S-Stop! What are you doing? Make it stop!" My cries didn't do anything to stop the excruciating pain. Were those screams really mine?

Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I was relieved of the burning pain, and my vision went black as I passed out.

I woke up once again, lying in soft grass. I opened my eyes slowly, not prepared for what I was about to see. I tried to lift my left hand to shield myself from the sun, but I couldn't move my arm. I looked over at it and gasped, my heart pounding. Where my arm should have been was nothing but blood-stained grass. My breaths came quicker in panic, and I attempted to sit up. I glanced down at my legs to find both of them gone. There was nothing.

I was missing three limbs. In haste, I pushed myself over so I was lying on my stomach. I had to hurry and get help before I bled out. Why did I ever say yes to him? I should have known something horrible was going to happen!

I was confused. How did this happen? Not twenty minutes ago, I was back at home, spending my day as I normally would, on my computer. In what seemed like just a flash, everything was different. I was missing my left arm and both of my legs. Not only that, but I was beginning to bleed out with no one around for me to call out to! My eyes began to burn slightly, beginning to moisten.

I looked around to see if there were any houses, but I didn't see anything. I reached forward with my one arm and took a handful of the grass, tugging myself forward as fast as I could. I didn't go too fast, but I refused to do nothing. My eyes fluttered, but I forced them back open. If I blacked out again, I was done for. I pulled myself further, each minute feeling like an hour. I knew it was a matter of time before I was a goner.

I looked up again, and saw a familiar female figure walking a dog. There was a person. I needed to get their attention!

"H-Help..." My voice was hoarse, probably a result from my screaming earlier. I coughed violently, before giving it my all. But instead of words, an agonized scream left my mouth. I was so glad I was in shock, otherwise I would probably be in a world of pain right now.

The girl's head snapped over to me, and I heard her gasp in shock before sprinting towards me, her dog following at her heels. She was a pretty blonde with blue eyes. Any FMA fan would know who she was. But I couldn't focus on that. She kneeled beside me quickly. "P-Please..." I gasped. "H-Help... me!"

She nodded. "Stay quiet, don't use up any more energy. Stay with me!" My eyes were already closing, and I was blacking out. The last thought I had was, that if I felt pain, then this wasn't a dream.

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone, and thank you for reading the prologue of this story, Two Sides of the Same Coin. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors. My laptop is really old and spazzes a lot, so if you find anything wrong, like this: 'and thendgharfdharhi she...' I promise you that was not intentional. ._."**

**Anyways, I'm actually rather excited about this, because I really enjoy FMA. I finished FMA last week and I'm about twelve episodes into FMAB, and it's already captured my soul. xD Also, since this was a prologue, it's shorter than the actual chapters, so expect the next upload to be quite a bit longer.**

**Thanks again for reading. Please drop a review, they'll encourage me to continue. If you found any errors, please tell me so I can fix them. Bai! :D**

**~~~Edited as of 4-26-2014~~~**

Hello once again, it's me. If you haven't noticed, all I did with this update was edit this chapter. I just recently acquired a beta reader (very awesome person, by the way.) who went through this chapter for me and suggested edits. I must admit, it made the chapter significantly better.

**So for the next while, instead of adding new chapters, I'll be updating the already existing ones. Sorry if this doesn't float your boat, but that's how it's going to be for awhile. I will begin updating with new chapters as soon as possible, so don't give up on me yet!**

**Many thanks to my amazing beta, Ruizu73!**


	2. Chapter 2

Two Sides of the Same Coin

I opened my eyes slowly, relieved to find myself back in my own bed. A bright light blinded me for a few seconds, but I blinked it away. Once I could see again, I felt my hopes sinking. I wasn't in my bed, as I had thought. I looked around, unable to recognize my surroundings. There was a window. I glanced out of it to see grass going in every direction, like where I was when I woke up, missing my limbs.

At the thought of that, I gasped and looked at my arm and legs. They were still missing, just nubs that were bandaged up. I moved my one arm, feeling sorry for myself. What was I going to do? Damnit, Truth, I thought I was dreaming. You could have at least warned me.

The door opened, interrupting my thoughts. I looked over to see Winry looking in. Her face brightened slightly when she saw me awake, and she walked in fully, closing the door behind her. "How are you feeling?" She asked me gently.

I thought over that. I felt woozy and groggy, and I hurt all over, but it wasn't too bad. I had a killer headache, though. "Okay, I guess. Could be worse." I replied, my voice croaky.

"Here, wait a minute. I'll get you some water." She told me, before leaving the room. She came back a little bit later and set the glass on the nightstand. She sat on the bed beside me and helped me to sit up, keeping her arm around my back to hold me up. Winry grabbed the glass again and I took it from her with my one arm and shakily gulped it all down.

"Thanks." My voice was clear as I thanked her. Winry set the glass back and laid me down again.

"No problem. I'm Winry Rockbell." She sent me a smile.

I returned it, glad that there was someone nice I could talk to. "My name's Emma." I said, keeping my last name to myself. I didn't live in Amestris, so it seemed to be a better idea to either not give a last name, and if it came down to it make one up. "Thank you for helping me."

"I couldn't just leave you back there." Winry told me, before inquiring, "What happened? I've never seen you around. Were you attacked?"

I paused for a minute, unsure. I couldn't tell her the truth. She wouldn't believe me, and it would cause me a bunch of problems. "I don't remember much. I travel around, and I was taking a walk somewhere. Then there's just a blank space, it won't come to me. The only thing after that was waking up to be missing my legs and arms, and even that is fuzzy." I frowned, as if I was actually trying to recall what happened.

The first thing I did when meeting one of the main characters was lie. This wouldn't end well. I'd probably end up having to reveal my secret anyways, there was no way I could lie for too long. I would give in eventually.

Winry frowned, as if unsure of whether or not to believe me. If she didn't, she decided not to push it. "I see. Well, you were unconcious for a week. Where do you come from? We should probably contact your family."

I flinched when she mentioned my family. I hadn't yet thought of them. They were probably worried sick. If what Winry said was true, then I had been gone for at least a week. I felt an empty tug at my stomach. I needed to find a way to contact my family, to tell them I was alright.

Oh yeah, Winry was waiting for an answer. "I don't have any family. I lost them a year ago." I told her, avoiding the question concerning where I came from. "That's why I travel."

"You're all by yourself? How old are you?" Winry's eyes widened.

"I'm thirteen." I answered.

"You shouldn't be traveling by yourself at that age! Do you have a place to stay?" I shook my head, answering her question. Winry stood up anyways, a determined look on her face. "Alright, then I'll ask Granny if you can stay with us."

I immediately felt panicked. If I was to go home, I couldn't allow myself to get close to anybody or I would never be able to leave this universe. "N-No, that's okay! Seriously, I don't want to burden anybody!"

"You're not burdening anybody, Emma. You're only thirteen, you should have a place to stay. You can't travel alone like that, you'll get hurt like you just did! I'll be right back." Winry turned around and left the room again, and I heard her talking to Pinako.

I cursed in my head. Don't get me wrong, staying with Winry sounded amazing, but like I said before, I needed to get home. I was already homesick, and if I got close to people I would have to hurt them by lying, and I would never be able to leave with no regrets. Why did I tell her that I didn't have any family? I could have made up some sort of a believable lie! I sighed, wishing I could stand up to intervene their conversation somehow.

Winry came back into the room, a satisfied grin on her face. "You're going to be staying with us. I talked it over with Granny, and she said you can stay." Without giving me time to say anything in reply, Winry glanced down at my arm and legs. "We should probably give you some automail, huh? That's going to take awhile, but I'll get it done quickly. You probably don't want to lay around in that bed any longer than you have to."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Automail was definitely a better idea than having only one arm for the rest of my life.

"Okay, let me take the measurements from your arm. You don't have any legs for me to measure so I'll have to estimate. Sorry." Winry sent me a kind smile.

"It's fine, I don't mind." I pulled myself out of my thoughts to reassure her.

After Winry was done, she said, "I'm going to go start. I'll bring you dinner when it's time to eat, okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, okay." I sent her a small smile as she left. When the door closed and I believed her to be out of hearing range, I sighed. I was exhausted. I was afraid of navigating with only one arm. I couldn't get the memory of earlier, when I woke up to notice them missing, out of my head. All of the blood. When watching anime, lots of blood didn't seem so bad, but when experiencing it, it was something else. I couldn't believe I was actually here.

Did that mean I was going to be able to meet Ed and Al? I really wanted to go on an adventure, even though that sounded stupid and pretty lame. It seemed unbelievable that I had traveled from my home universe all the way here. It was insane. I had fantasized about this many times, but I never though it would actually happen. Especially not the way it did.

I groaned upon realizing a problem. I didn't have my pills with me. I took pills to keep up my energy, because for some reason or another I was lacking things like iron and vitamin B12, which made me tired when I didn't take the pills. I would basically be half asleep for hours after I actually woke up in the mornings.

Oh well, I could handle it.

I fell back asleep somewhere along the way, unable to stay awake any longer. Even though I had been out a week straight, I was really tired. Losing limbs did a number on your body. I knew that even after getting the automail, I would have to go through some kind of physical therapy. As dramatic as it sounded, I hoped I wouldn't have to relearn how to walk, because that would definitely be a pain.

I woke back up after a dreamless sleep, and not too long after Winry came in with a bowl of stew, which smelled amazing. I didn't realize how hungry I was.

Winry had to feed me, which was embarrassing to me, because I couldn't sit up on my own and I couldn't hold onto the bowl and the spoon at the same time. It was a pain, but I could deal with it for awhile.

I spent about another week waiting for Winry to finish my arm and legs. When she finally did, I was overjoyed, forgetting about one important factor.

I had been moved out of my room and into the living room via wheelchair. I was sitting on a chair so no one had to hold me up. I was smiling excitedly when Winry brought in the arm and legs. "You know," She had said, "We're going to have to connect the nerves, and that hurts. Feel free to scream if you have to."

To say I paled would be an understatement. Winry started with my arm. She unbandaged the stub and connected the base first, to which the actual arm would be attached. "Ready?" She asked me. I nodded, lying my ass off, but oh well. "One, two, three!"

It felt like a million needles prickling my arm. Dang, it hurt a lot more than you would think! I hissed, fighting the urge to jerk away my arm. It took a lot not to cry out, but I managed it well enough. Even after she was done with the arm, it still continued to hurt.

The process was the same for my legs, and all of the pain combined together overwhelmed me in a way, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could handle it. I was moved back to my bed, where I eventually blacked out, into a restless sleep.

I woke up the next day, pleased to find it didn't hurt anymore. The first thing I did was shoot up into a sitting position, beaming. I was never so happy to jump out of bed. However, it didn't go as I thought I would, and as soon as my body weight relied on my legs, I fell to the floor with a grunt and a thump. Guess I wasn't strong enough yet.

I didn't give up, though. I grabbed onto the bed and got onto my knees, determined to stand up. I moved one leg so I was on one knee, and slowly the other. I used the bed as support to push myself up. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be, and I didn't quite make it. My legs wobbled and I fell onto my ass. I grinned nonetheless, pleased with what little work I actually got done.

Winry then opened the door, and looked down at me, lying on my back and grinning. "You're already up? I told you that it'll take awhile to get used to the automail. Don't push yourself."

I didn't let her words put any strain on my good mood. "No, this is amazing! I'll be able to walk again!" I said. I attempted to push myself up with my new arm, but it wobbled and I fell again. Winry sighed and walked over to me, helping me up. With her support, I was able to walk back to my bed, where I sat down, relishing all of the simple abilities that I had taken for granted all of my life.

"Thanks so much, Winry!" I grinned, realizing how much more energized my voice sounded.

Winry smiled back at me. "Of course! Are you hungry? I'll bring something up."

I was about to protest, saying that I could go out and eat with her and Pinako, but then realized that might be a problem because although I had my limbs back, they were weak and I probably couldn't do much yet. "Sure." I accepted her offer.

Over the weeks I spent with Winry, she helped me learn to use the automail correctly and get strong enough so I could move about on my own. She told me not to overdo it and strain myself, but I didn't listen. Every day when she wasn't in my room, I practiced on my own, as well as if I woke up in the middle of the night.

Soon, I was able to walk again and get around by myself, which was great. As soon as Winry and Pinako were convinced that I could handle myself, I went outside for the first time in what seemesd like forever. It was warm and sunny, which pleased me greatly. I began taking Den out on walks and running around with him outside. Of course I helped out in the house too. I felt as if I owed a great deal to Winry and Pinako, which I did.

As much as automail was great, there were also a few cons. The first and most obvious, I had to come to terms with never being able to get my own arm and legs back, which was something I could deal with. Another problem was that if I got back home, I would freak everyone out, and when I grew I wouldn't be able to get my automail adjusted. Also, the weather affected it, too. When it was rainy out, the flesh part of my arm and legs ached, and apparently the cold would do the same, which bothered me because winter was always my favorite season and I loved the snow.

Still, the pros definitely outweighed the cons. It was great to be active again. But having lazed around for so long did mess up my whole breathing deal a bit. Again, though, nothing I couldn't handle.

I began to take an interest in alchemy. Hey, here I was, in the anime Fullmetal Alchemist, how could I not be interested? In this world, alchemy was definitely possible, whereas in my world I had never even bothered to try. I hoped, that when Ed and Al came back, that I could ask them about it.

Speaking of the two, it was hard for me to hide the huge smile I wore when first seeing all of the pictures of them. They were my favorite characters, no surprise there, so I had to ask Winry.

When she told me about them, I couldn't help but notice the loneliness in her eyes. I knew she missed them, and I couldn't blame her. When watching the anime, I had always thought she seemed clingy and pushy, which annoyed me, but when seeing it in real life, I could understand a bit better. I decided not to talk about them too much as to not upset her. I also decided not to tell anyone about my interest in alchemy. Having watched the anime, I knew the basics of how it worked. And since I saw Truth, I wasn't sure if I needed to use a transmutation circle, either.

One day, I decided to try it. I was outside by myself, and I sat down in a spot where there weren't any windows so no one in the house could see. I focused on decomposing and reconstructing the dirt, determined not to let my mind wander or get destracted. I tried it without a transmutation circle first. I clapped my hands together and then hit them onto the dirt, keeping the shape of a small bird in mind. There was a blue flash, and when I opened my eyes, I sweatdropped. I did reshape the dirt, but it was more of a blob than a bird. Not only that, but some of the dirt had splattered on to me.

When I went back inside later, I covered up the truth by saying I tripped. Not the most believable excuse but Winry didn't seem to doubt me. Pinako, on the other hand, gave me a knowing glance, so I'm pretty sure she knew what I was up to. I decided then that I was going to improve. I was one of those people who needed to have a goal, something to work on. Earlier it was getting back on my own feet after getting automail, and now it was to learn and practice alchemy. I was definitely excited. I just wished I could show off to my brothers. They weren't here, though. Neither was Mom or Dad.

I was alone.

I tired not to let that bother me, but it still weighed on my mind a bit. I distracted myself though, by working on several things and just being friends with Winry. I had been here for a few months, and my birthday had passed, making me now fourteen years old.

I was sitting in the living room, just thinking to myself, when I heard something that made me feel both excited and nervous at the same time. "Winry!" Pinako called. "We've got some guests of honor!"

* * *

**A/N: Hello once again, this is the OneMan Alchemist with another update. How was your day? Mine was interesting. It was the first day back from spring break and I have homework, but I'll put that off. I'm going to get my new glasses soon. Thank god, the old ones don't do shit anymore. :/**

**Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. Tell me what you think and if there are any improvements I could make. Please please drop a review, it would really help me out. The button is right down there, it only takes a minute to click and write a few words. Bye, all! :D**

**~~~Edited as of 5-3-2014~~~**


	3. Chapter 3

Two Sides of the Same Coin

I hopped up and ran to the door, trying to act as if I had no clue who was here and I was interested. I opened the door and looked out. My heart leaped when I saw Ed, Al, and Major Armstrong coming up to the house. Of course, Al was busted and was being carried in a box by Major Armstrong, and Ed only had one arm. They didn't notice me right away, which honestly put me a bot at ease, since I don't really like being pointed out as the center of attention.

"Aren't you looking lively?" Pinako remarked as the trio approached.

"Hey. We need your help again, Granny Pinako." Ed grinned as he walked up.

I couldn't help feeling slightly nervous, so I stood back by the door to lessen the chances of being noticed. "HEY! ED!" I heard Winry shout, before a wrench flew down from upstairs, hitting said person in the head. I couldn't help but wince. "Didn't I tell you to call at least once before you show up for a maitenance check?!" She yelled.

"Winry, you jackass!" Ed yelled back, his hand on the spot where the wrench had made contact with his head. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

I could imagine Winry grinning as she replied with, "Welcome home!"

"Yeah!" He replied, still glaring up at her.

I went back inside then, and the others all filed in after me. I fought the urge to retreat back to my room. Sure, I was excited to meet two of my favorite characters, but I was nervous as well. "Huh?" I looked up at hearing Ed's voice directed towards me. "Who're you?" He asked me.

"My name's Emma." I answered, hands behind my back shyly. "I've been staying here for the past couple of months." Damn, did I sound lame or what?

Ed grinned. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." He introduced himself. I felt a little more at ease and smiled weakly.

A few minutes later, Winry came in. Her eyes widened when she saw Ed's arm. "WHA-!" She pointed at it, astonished.

"Oh, sorry. It got busted." Said person stated simply.

"Wait one minute!" Winry yelled.

As that continued, I was confronted again, but this time by Al. "I've never seen you around here." He remarked, catching my attention.

Not quite as nervous as before, I managed a smile as I looked at him."I've only been here for a couple of months. My name's Emma."

"Oh, I'm Alphonse! Nice to meet you!" He replied.

I nodded in reply, but before I could actually say something to strike up a conversation, Winry came over. "So what happened? Why's Al also busted up? Just what are you guys doing?"

While they all were talking, I decided to wait outside to give them some time to catch up. I was horribly shy, especially around new people, and since they all haven't talked with each other in years, I gave them some time alone. I plopped down by a tree, feeling slightly nostalgic. Seeing them all together like that, arguing, talking, like a family, made me miss my home even more. My brothers and I fought over the most idiotic reasons, but at the same time laughed with each other at the smallest things. I missed all of that, even the arguments we were always in. I guess the saying, 'It's the important things you notice when they're gone.' is a lot more true than I initially thought.

Ed and Al came outside, the former using a spare leg. Before I had time to feel awkward, I heard Winry call my name. I hopped up and jogged inside. "Can you help me out a bit?" The blonde asked me. I nodded in reply.

I helped Winry out with the automail a lot. I took to doing so because I still felt I owed her, and helping her out made things easier on her. I hoped she didn't expect me to help her through the night, because I couldn't manage that. The only time I ever stayed up all through the night was when I was at birthday parties or sleepovers with my friends back home. Even then I'd pass out around noon or so the next day.

The next few days were rather peaceful. I was messing around outside one day, playing fetch with Den. It was an activity I enjoyed. I had a dog back home, but I didn't play with her as much because I had my computer to keep my busy. Now that I had neither of those, I realized what I was actually missing. I whipped the stick a good distance away, and grinned when the black and white dog sped off after it.

"You have automail?"

I turned around to see Ed standing a few feet away. I hadn't even heard him approach me. "Yeah." I told him. "My left arm and both of my legs are automail."

"How'd you lose 'em?" He asked, coming up to stand by me.

"A few months back, when I was travelling. The memory itself is blurry, I can't make out anything useful. All I know is I woke up with only one arm in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere. I saw Winry walking Den and I screamed to get her attention, and then I blacked out. I woke up in the house, and I've been staying there ever since." I explained, leaning down to get the stick Den dropped at my feet. I pet Den's head before aiming and throwing it again, watching the dog run back off.

"How come you're staying here? Don't you have family?"

"Nope. None that I know of." I looked down as I said this, face darkening a bit. Lying was horrible, and I hated to do so. But if I told anyone the truth, that I was from the other side of the gate, they wouldn't believe me anyways. It was better this way. I changed the subject before any more questions could be asked. "Hey, you're a State Alchemist, which means you know alchemy, right?" I looked back up at him.

Ed nodded.

"When you get your arm, can you show me?" I couldn't help smiling. "I've always been interested. I tried to teach myself some, but that's easier said than done."

"I guess." He said. "Why do you want to learn alchemy?"

"I've just always wanted to learn, I guess. It's not like there's anyone else around that can teach me. I already know the basics and I can transmute some, but the end result doesn't turn out right. I can't figure out why."

"Oh. Show me how you transmute." He said.

I nodded and sat down, before realizing something. I didn't use transmutaion circles, and I had no clue how to draw one. This was going to take some explaining. It's not like I could back out now anyways. I focused again on trying to create the bird shape from the dirt, trying to ignore that for the first time I actually had an audience. Edward Elric, of all people. I pushed the thought out of my mind and clapped my hands together before slapping them onto the ground, creating a bird-shaped blob that looked as if it were about to fall apart. My cheeks reddened.

"You don't use a transmutation cirlce?" Ed inquired, his eyes wide.

"No." I said, acting as if I didn't know that not using one wasn't normal. "Is that bad?" I tilted my head to the side.

"Never mind. Anyways, the problem I see is that you're not focusing enough on reconstructing the matter into something solid. You have the shape in mind, but only that. You have to keep the end result as a whole in mind. Try again."

I nodded once more, repeating his advice once to myself. I concentrated again, this time thinking of the whole bird. I clapped my hands together and slapped them onto the ground, hoping that I was successful this time. When I glanced at what I had created, I was satisfied. The bird had definitely improved. Instead of looking as it was about to fall apart, it looked solid. I grinned up at Ed.

"That's better. Just keep what I said in mind and you'll improve." He said.

"Great. Thanks!" I stood back up, feeling proud of myself.

Another two days later, Ed got his arm and leg back. The first thing he did was run off to fix Al, which I admit made me grin. Their bond as brothers had always got to me.

I was sitting on the porch, watching the two of them spar. They were fast, and I doubted that if I was ever in a fight that I could ever keep up. Not only that, but I'd run out of breath quickly, which was now bugging me.

I began to get lost in thought, but I was pulled out of it when I heard Ed call out to me. "Hey, you wanna try? You said you wanna be an alchemist, right? Well, to do that you need to train the mind as well as the body."

I swear, just after I was thinking about fighting and how much I'd suck, too. "I'm not very good, I've never sparred before." I told him.

"I'm sure you'll do fine!" Al reassured me, and I was sure that if he had his body he'd be smiling right now.

"O-Okay then.." I stood up and walked over, taken by surprise when Ed launched at me. He aimed a kick at my side, but I jumped away in the nick of time. I didn't have time to prepare myself for his next attack, so I wound up with a punch to my face.

Although it stung, I couldn't help smirking slightly. All thoughts of being nervous from before left me and I sprang into the offensive, kneeling down. I swiped one of my legs out to try to trip him, unaware I could actually move that fast. Of course I wasn't successful, so as he jumped out of the way I hopped back up, getting ready for the next attack.

I avoided a punch from Al, but got hit again, this time from a kick by Ed. As I fell to the ground, the two brothers attacked each other again, not wasting a second of time. I hissed quietly in pain, but got right back up, already panting. I leaped back into action by attempting to knee Ed in the stomach after he had avoided an attack from his brother. My attack worked for once, but it didn't seem to do any damage, as the blonde didn't acknowledge the fact that I had hit him.

We went on like this for awhile, Major Armstrong joining in after awhile. I only hit that one time, and I was pretty beat when we finished. I ached all over, but I felt good anyways. I had never actually sparred, and I definitely sucked ass, but it was fun anyways.

"Granny, we're starving!" Ed exclaimed with a grin as all four of us walked inside. I was hoping Winry wouldn't freak when she saw me, dirty and beat up.

My hopes were all in vain.

"Ed, Al! Did you drag Emma into one of your spars?! Look at her, she's all beat up!" Winry took in my current state, looking shocked.

"No, Winry, it's fine! I wanted to!" I reassured her, speaking before anyone else could.

"Why would you want to? You're hurt!" She told me, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I told you, I'm fine. I enjoyed it! Your automail is really durable." I decided to compliment her, hoping to take her mind off of scolding me any further.

"Well, of course! It's first class automail." Winry grinned in satisfaction, before frowning again. She pointed to my room. "Wash up and change before eating."

I hopped off, glad I got off so easy. I was expecting her to go nuts. I wondered if Winry had figured out about my interest in alchemy. I looked down at my hands, losing myself in thought again. I could already transmute without a transmutation circle, which was impressive by itself. I had only been able to teach myself what I remembered from the show, which honestly wasn't that much.

It was then that I made up my mind. I was going to ask Ed and Al if I could go with them to Central. It was the best way to improve my alchemy. I knew it wasn't very safe, but what could I do? Now that all of these possibilities were right in front of my face, I couldn't just ignore them. I could travel, practice, and make friends. But all of that came with fighting, injuries, and betrayal. It was all part of the challenge, though.

I washed up and changed into clean clothes, and soon we were all sitting at the table, eating. It felt different to be around this many people. Normally it was just Winry, Pinako and I, but since Al, Ed, and Major Armstrong were here, the amount of people we normally had was doubled.

"Our master used to say, 'To train the mind, first train the body.' That's why we usually have to train ourselves like this." Ed informed Winry while he was eating.

"So when you have free time, you spar? That'll break the automail right away." Winry pointed out, an unconvinced look on her face.

"Well, I'm making money." Pinako chuckled.

"However, they are correct." Major Armstrong told us. "A healthy mind lives in a well-trained, beautiful body." Suddenly, he was standing up and showing off his muscles. "Behold! My beautiful body!" I looked away.

"Well, why bring Emma into it? She's never been interested in sparring before." Winry spoke again.

I looked up at her. I was having a dandy time staying in the background, thank you very much. "What's the harm in it?" I inquired.

Winry gave me a look. "You already got hurt." I shrugged in reply, not bothered much.

After dinner, I decided to talk to Winry about me going to Central. It wasn't like I could just leave, even if I was allowed to tag along. "Hey, Win? Can we talk for a bit?"

"Sure." She said. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I haven't really asked them yet, but what would you say if I told you I was planning on tagging along to Central with Ed and Al?"

Winry looked up at me, slightly shocked. "You want to leave?"

"No, no, that's not it. It's just... I was never the type of person who just sticks in one place for too long. I haven't told you, but I've been practicing alchemy, and it interests me, so I could also learn something while being away." I explained, hoping not to upset her too much.

She sighed. "I guess I can't hold you back, if you've made up your mind. But you have to ask Ed and Al first, obviously."

I nodded. "Yeah, definitely. I'll go do that right now, actually." I sent my friend a grin, leaving the room. I walked outside to see the brothers lounging in the grass, talking.

I felt slightl nervous, I'll admit. It isn't every day you go around asking your favorite character from an anime if you can tag along with them after only knowing them for about three days. I stopped in front of them, hands behind my back. It was a nervous habit I developed who knows when. "Uh, hey, I have a question."

"What's up?" Ed asked, looking up at me.

I was silent for a second before saying, "I know it's kind of rude to just come out like this, but I was wondering if I could go with you guys to Central, and just kind of tag along."

"Why would you want to do that?" Al inquired.

I gave them the same explanation I gave Winry. "I'm not the kind of person to stick around in one place for too long. It's also a good way to practice alchemy than just doing so here, by myself. You don't have to let me, like I said it was rude of me to just invite myself, but I can't help asking."

Ed and Al exchanged a look, before Ed spoke again. "It's going to be dangerous, and you can't defend yourself very well."

"I know that. I can handle it. We're leaving first thing tomorrow."

"I don't mind as long as you can keep up."

"I'm fine with it if Brother is." I think you can guess who said what.

"Great! I'll go tell Winry." I grinned and spun around, running back to the house. I honestly didn't think it would be that easy. I was half expecting them to say I couldn't come. I felt excited. Most FMA fans would give anything to be in my place. I began to wonder what all of my friends back home were up to. We were a group of otakus, but the majority of them were obsessed with FMA about a year before I started it. Last I was home, I only had two friends that liked it as much as I did, Delilah and Gwen.

Gwen was easily my closest friend. Her and I felt the same about pretty much everything. We talked all the time, usually roleplaying. She was amazing. Bold, different, funny, and easy to talk to. I missed her so much. Dang.

I tried not to think about it. I went up to Winry and told her, "They said I could come."

"Really?" The blonde looked sad. "I'm going to miss you. I didn't expect for you to just up and leave like this. I hope you'll get into less trouble than they do. Try to stay out of the fights, and please be careful."

"I'll try, but no promises." I smiled, and Winry returned the favor slightly. She brought me into a hug, taking me by slight surprise. I hugged back, unable to ignore the feeling in my stomach. I would definitely miss her.

I broke one of my first rules all those months ago. I had already become close to someone.

* * *

**A/N: Two chapters in one day! Aren't you lucky?**

**Hah, I updated because a friend just told me she liked it and I had this chapter done, so why not? :P I'm sorry for any grammatical errors, I decided not to check it over. I'll try not to make a habit of that. Also, this was my first shot at a fighting scene. What do you think? I'm going to attempt to make the story more interesting instead of just a bunch of fillers, so look forward to that. I'm finally getting to the actual plot, and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update since school is back up.**

**Speaking of which, I should probably get to that homework I mentioned in the last chapter some time or another, because I have math first thing in the morning. Ugh.**

**Okay, pretty pretty please review! They're inspiring and encouraging and only take a few seconds to make.**

**Have a good day, g'bai!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Two Sides of the Same Coin

The next morning, it was early when I got up. I had all I needed and I was definitely excited to go to Central. Ed, Al, Major Armstrong, and I were all outside of the house, about to leave. I had said goodbye to Winry last night. She was still asleep, considering she had pulled several all-nighters in the past few days.

I tell you, I don't know how that lady does it.

Before leaving, I had taken a look at myself in the mirror. It was surprising how different I looked after all of these months. My green eyes seemed happy enough, but behind them was a hollowness that hadn't been there before. My red dyed hair was fading slightly, giving it a slightly pinkish orange look here and there that I wasn't proud of. A bit of the natural blonde still showed through. I had lost weight due to being more active.

"Thanks for taking care of us, Granny." Ed thanked Pinako.

"Right."

Al spoke up after a few seconds. "Huh? Where's Winry?"

"Still sound asleep since she stayed up the whole night." Pinako told him. "Want me to wake her up?"

"Nah, it's okay." Ed waved off the idea. "She'd blab on and on about taking care of the automail properly or something like that if she came down here. See ya."

"Be careful." Pinako warned. "You boys come back once in awhile and eat breakfast with us, you hear? You too, Emma."

I nodded with a smile as Al told her, "Yeah, we'll drop by sometime."

"Who'd drop by this far into the mountains just to eat.." Ed mumbled.

"To have a family to welcome you.." Major Armstrong said, "It must be wonderful to have a place to return to."

"Really. We're the wandering sort that go from journey to journey." Ed pointed out.

"Ed! Al! Emma!" Said three turned around to see Winry standing on the balcony, looking tired with messy hair. She waved.

In response, I grinned and waved back. I would definitely miss her, but if the plot followed the same as it did in the anime, then I would be seeing her soon. Speaking of plot, I hoped desperately that my being here didn't screw up everything.

On the train, I was sitting by the window and next to Al. Ed sat across from me and next to Major Armstrong. The ride was too long for my taste. I had never ridden in a train before, but the excitement I initially had soon dwindled as I realized that it always looked the same outside. It gave me plenty of time to think about different things, some positive and some negative. My thoughts mostly dwelled on my familly and friends back home. It had been months since I last saw them, and now was one of those times when I realized just how homesick I was.

"Do you know what we're doing when we get to Central?" Al asked me, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I looked up at him and shook my head. "No."

He began to explain to me the Philosopher's Stone and how they were looking it. He told me how Doctor Marcoh's research was hidden in the library in Central, and that it included information vital to the Stone. I remembered this part. It was when Sheska was introduced. I nodded when he was done. "'Kay, so we're going straight to the library?"

Al nodded. "Yep."

"Cool." I smiled softly. Al was so easy to talk to. I liked him a lot.

I turned back to the window, watching endless scenery pass by, stopping occasionally. It was all the same, but I was still fascinated. I was in FMA, how could I not be? This was amazing. I was going on an adventure, for the first time in my life. I also didn't have to worry about school, which was a paradise all in itself. No homework was enough to make anyone happy, or at least so I thought.

Before I knew it, I felt myself dozing off, as getting up early had taken its toll on me. I awoke in what seemes like seconds with an ache in my head, which had just collided with the window. My cheeks reddened in embarrassment when I found all three of the people with me staring.

Ed snickered.

"Oh, shush." I muttered, rubbing my head.

"Are you okay?" Al asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured him.

Thank god we arrived then, I didn't want to feel more awkward than I already did. Ed jumped up and raced out, us three following closely behind. I was excited, so I didn't mind the running.

"Hurry up, Al!" Ed called to his brother.

"Brother, we don't have to hurry that much!" Al complained as he caught up.

"Yes, libraries cannot run away." Major Armstrong commented.

"Just hurry up!" Ed stopped in the train stration before announcing with a grin, "We're here, Central!"

I saw Ross and Brosh saluting, before the former said, "We're here to see you, Major Armstrong."

"Good work second Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh." Major Armstrong praised.

"Oh, are you the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Brosh inquired with a grin, before both him and Ross approached Al.

"I'm Maria Ross! It's an honor to meet you!"

"I'm Denny Brosh! Your outfit matches your name! How impressive!"

I grinned and pointed at Ed along with Al and Major Armstrong. Ross and Brosh looked at him, astonished. "Huh? The small guy?" They wondered.

Ed immediately lost what little cool he had left, and I held him back as he waved his arms back and forth in a rage.

"W-We are so very sorry!" Ross apologized.

"I didn't mean small, um.." Brosh realized his mistake, but didn't seem to know what to say.

"Now I shall go report to Central HQ." Major Armstrong made his leaving known.

Ed spun around, grinning again as if suddenly forgetting about being mad a few seconds earlier. "Oh? What is that? Is this where we part? I'm so sad. Bye bye!" It was obvious he was actually glad that Major Armstrong was leaving.

"I am sad as well! It was a truly fun journey!" The burly man caught Ed in an embrace dramatically, causing the blonde to look as if he couldn't breathe. I sweatdropped as I noticed just how many people were staring. "Take care of the rest!" He told Ross and Brosh after letting go of Ed.

"What? I still have to have escorts?" He sulked.

"Of course! According to East HQ's reports, Scar has yet to be apprehended, and until the situation settles down we will act as your escorts. While we are not as skilled as the Major, we are confident in our abilities so please be relieved."

We got into a car, one of the older ones. (It was 1914, guess I shouldn't be surprised.) It was a tight fit. I sat by the window and next to Ross, Brosh on her other side, and the brothers sat across from us. I tried to take up as little room as possible and sat close to the window, being claustrophobic and having a slight fear of physical contact with people I didn't know.

I wasn't paying much attention to the conversation going on, which would probably come back to bite me in the ass later, so I hoped they didn't say anything too important.

"Then who's she?"

I looked back up at Ross, who had spoken. "That's Emma. She travels around with us." Ed told her.

"Um, it's nice to meet you." I stammered, taken aback slightly from being drawn into the conversation so suddenly.

Ross nodded with a friendly smile, putting me a bit more at ease.

"Ah!" Ed exclaimed, pointing out the window. "I can see it! I can see it!" I looked out of the window, frowning. Wasn't the library supposed to be..? Wait, never mind, he had the wrong one.

"Oh, that is the National Central Library. It boasts the greatest collection of books in the nation. There are so many books to the point where it is said that even if you repeat your life a hundred times, it wouldn't be enough to finish reading all of them. The first branch you were looking for lies to the west of it. Many research files, past records, and name registries were stored there." Ross explained.

Minutes later, we were all standing in front of the first branch, Ed, Al, and I bearing horrified looks.

"However.." The older female paused. "A few days ago, all the books inside were burned by a mysterious fire."

Only half of the first floor of the building remained. The top edges were a deep black. Ash was strewn everywhere inside it, and the structure looked as if it were about to fall apart any minute. There were no doors or windows, and a few burnt wooden planks were still standing. I remembered exactly how the fire was started. After not being able to read or watch FMA for so long, some of the details and events were beginning to slip my mind, but after being here I remembered how the library branch was set ablaze.

Soon, we decided to go back to the National Central Library to ask about the documents. It was a huge building, making me feel small. There were many books, I already saw severeal full shelves while we were at the information center, asking about any books from a 'Tim Marcoh.'

"Tim Marcoh.. Hmm..." The lady muttered to herself, flipping through a rather big book. "Research files on the Philosopher's Stone.. Just like I thought, it's not in the catalogue. Any new books that entered the main branch would definitely be checked and logged in the catalogue. Since they aren't in here, it means that the files were never there, and even if they were there, they were destroyed during the fire the other day."

Ed fell to the ground, sulking again. The lady leaned over her counter slightly to look at him. "Um.. Hello?"

"Thank you for helping us.." Al muttered.

"Hey, are you alright?" She looked worried, sweatdropping.

"No, we're not all right.." Ed said gloomily.

"Oh yeah, Sheska might know." A guy carrying books suggested as he walked by. "Wasn't she at the first branch before?"

"Oh, right!" The lady smiled and looked back at us. "If you check Sheska's house, you'll be able to find out quickly."

"Who? Is she somebody who knows a lot about books from that branch?" Ed asked her.

"She knows a lot... She's a bookworm to the letter." The lady said, giving a half-smile.

Bookworm was an understatement, I thought, as Sheska flashed through my mind. The five of us left the library and headed to Sheska's house. I kept recieving calculating looks from Ed when he thought I wasn't looking. To be honest, I didn't even notice up until now. But it made sense, considering I could transmute without a transmutation circle. If I was correct, from what he knew, you couldn only do so if you've performed human transmutation.

I suppose I'd have to actually tell the truth eventually. Tell them that I was from the other side of the gate, a world completely different from theirs. I was skeptical when thinking this, because I was worried he wouldn't believe me. How could I tell them that they were fictional? When I thought about it, Ed and Al were the only ones that could get me home. There wouldn't be enough time for me to prepare myself, because I had only just begun learning alchemy. I needed to get back as soon as possible. I was already attatched to people.

We stopped in front of Sheska's house. Brosh went up and knocked a few times, before waiting for a bit and knocking again. No answer. "Is she not in?" He asked.

"The lights are on, so I think she's here." Ed replied, looking around.

"Excuse us." Brosh opened the door.

"What the hell are these piles of books?!" Ed exclaimed as he saw the inside.

"Does someone really live here?" Brosh wondered.

There were books just about everywhere, I kid you not. They were stacked, covering just about every inch of the floor, with a path or two through. Some of the stacks went to the cieling! There were books of every size, color, you name it. See why I said that bookworm was an understatement?

We all walked in, searching for Sheska. We called out her name, but got no reply. I followed one of the paths and came to a large pile of books that weren't stacked like the millions of others. "Sheska?" I called out, as if I had no clue where she was.

"Uh... Somebody?" I heard a small voice from the pile. Although I knew it was coming, I'd be lying if I say it didn't startle me.

"U-Uh, guys? I think Sheska's... Buried alive." I said with a poker face, pointing at the pile.

It was if I had set off an alarm. Suddenly everyone else was going nuts, throwing away the books. I didn't comment on how that would ruin them, and instead helped them out, making sure to stack the books next to me. I felt slightly insensitive.

Soon, we were all panting and Sheska was sitting on the floor, a sheepish look on her face, readjusting her glasses. She looked just like I had remembered, chin-length brown hair and round, large glasses. "Oooh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention when a pile of books tumbled down... I thought I was going to die! Thank you!"

"You're Sheska... Right?" I inquired.

"Yes, I'm Sheska. I love books, and was very happy to be employed at the library. But I forgot I was at work, and read books instead, so I got fired. I have to work so I can put my sick mother in a hospital, but the only thing I can do is read books. I'm clumsy, the garbage of society!" I didn't say anything, watching as Sheska beat herself down. I never liked watching people do this to themselves. I can't say I never did, but maybe that's why I hate it so much.

"Uh, I have something to ask you." Ed interrupted her. "Do you remember any research files written by Tim Marcoh?

Sheska took a few minutes to think, before she smiled and said, "Oh, yes, I remember! They were research files, the only ones handwritten among the printed books, and they were shoved into the wrong genre so I remember them well.

"They really were at the branch... That means they were completely burned down." Ed muttered, his and Al's moods going gloomy. "It's 'start from scratch' time again."

"Sorry for wasting your time.." Al said.

Sheska looked confused. "E-Excuse me.. Did you want to read those research documents?" She asked.

I nodded in reply as Ed began to speak, getting interrupted halfway through. "Yes, but now there's no way we can-"

"I remember everything that was written in them, though." Sheska said. All of us turned to her with dumbfounded looks, not sure whether or not to believe her.

"HUH?"

"Because I remember everything in a book after reading it once. I can copy it word for word, without mistake." Sheska smiled again. "If you want, I'll make you a copy, but it'll take awhile."

Ed didn't seem to mind. "Thank you, Ms. Bookworm!" He shook her hand with both of his. I grinned, satisfied.

Afterwards, we decided to leave Sheska alone, because she had insisted to get started right away, tellingr us it would take a few days. Later, I found myself alone in the same room as Ed, who decided to bring up the whole transmutation without the circle deal.

"So, when did you do it?" He asked, avoiding my eyes.

I looked over at him, confused at first. But I caught on quickly and acted like I had no idea what he was talking about. "When did I do what?"

"You know what I mean. Commit the taboo. How else could you transmute like that?" He stated.

"Wait, the taboo as in human transmutation? I would never-!"

"Don't lie about it!" He finally looked up at me with an intense, almost mad look. "That's the only way you're able to transmute without a transmutation circle!"

I felt my heart pounding. I never liked arguing with people. I could never think straight. "I swear, I didn't!Wait, does that mean you've done it, too?"

His expression darkened when I asked him that, making me regret it. He answered, though, before I could think to say so. "Yes, I have. And so have you, right? That's also why you're missing your legs and arms."

"No, I never did!" I denied the accusation, knowing I would have to tell him I was from the other side, soon. I didn't know if he would believe me, but it was better than standing here and fighting. That wouldn't get anything done. "That's not how I lost them!"

"Then how did you?" He demanded, looking determined on figuring out the answer.

I was silent for a few seconds, before looking away, unable to handle the intensity of his eyes anymore. It was as if he could see right through me. "I.." I began after a minute. "I payed a toll. But not for human transmutation, nothing like that."

"You saw Truth, didn't you?" His voice wasn't as loud, as demanding, as it was a few seconds ago.

I nodded. "Yes." That smug ass.

"Why were you there?"

"I... You wouldn't believe me, even if I told you the truth. I can still hardly believe it myself." I tried to get out of explaining it, but I knew Ed wouldn't let that happen. He was too damn stubborn.

"Let me decide what I do and don't believe."

I didn't have a reply for that, so I took a shaky breath and spoke, nervous. "I... I'm from..." I mentally hit myself for sounding so stupid. "I'm from the other side. The other side of the gate."

Ed looked up at me, his eyes wide. I continued. "When I first came over here.. I thought it was a dream. I woke up in front of the gate, and Truth was there. He said if given the choice, would I continue through the dream or go back? I was entirely convinced I was dreaming. It's stupid, really. I told him that I would continue through, just to see what would happen. Truth said I had to pay a toll, but also that I would get a 'parting gift.' The toll was my arm and legs, but now that I think of it, I'm not sure what the so called parting gift was."

"So you're from the other side." Ed muttered after a long pause. "That explains it."

"Huh?" I frowned. "Explains what?"

"There was something off about you. I could tell when I first saw you." He told me.

"So you actually believe me?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not entirely sure." Ed gave me a little frown. "You don't seem to want to hurt anyone. As long as that remains, I'm fine with you being around."

I remained quiet, shocked. I just told Edward Elric that I was from the other side of the gate, and he accepted that? Hell, for all I know he was lying and thought I was a lunatic, but he seemed sincere. I definitely wasn't expecting him to take this so rationally.

"You want to go back, don't you?" He snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Of course I do. My home's there. Don't get me wrong, you guys are amazing, but it's my home. Actually, that's the reason why I decided to learn alchemy, so I can send myself back." I admitted.

"That's understandable." He looked up at me with a grin. "Al and I'll help you! We'll explain everything to him once he gets back."

"Seriously? Thank you!" I smiled, covering up the small heartache I was feeling. Look at me, making friends like this, even though I aimed to leave them. Winry, and now Al and Ed. This was going to cause some complications, I could see it coming. But then again.. There was always the chance that I wouldn't be able to go back at all. That one thought sent a whole bunch of doubts to enter my mind.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, guess who's back? :D I am! I finally updated! Sorry guys, but school is important. Also, the past few days haven't been going all that great. Yeah, yeah, I know, my personal life isn't an excuse, sure, but it can really get in the way. I did update, though!**

**Also, I got my first review! Thanks SO MUCH to ****friendinfire**** for your review. It's glad to have some feedback and to know someone likes this. Also, notice how this chapter is longer than usual? x3**

**(Hinthint.)**

**Anyways, it's time for me to go now. Thanks a bunch for reading, and pretty please review! I don't know if I need to correct anything, or if I screwed up somewhere, because you guys won't tell me. Please, PLEASE, review! I know I sound like a review-obsessed author, but my writing means a lot to me and it's bothering me that I don't know what anyone thinks. Besides, it takes under a minute to write a few words and post them.**

**G'bai!**


	5. Chapter 5

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Ed and I had explained my situation to Al, who seemed doubtful, but then more at ease when he saw his brother was reacting positively. Honestly, I had expected him to flip out. He was always skeptical and thought most things over most of the time. He was always my favorite characrer. Meeting him in real life was like a dream come true.

"What's your world like?" Ed asked me after a day or two, a curious look adorning his features.

"Well... For one, there is no alchemy." I couldn't help mentioning that first. It was the biggest difference between our worlds.

"No alchemy?!" Al exclaimed, and I could imagine him with eyes wide as he looked at me.

"Nope. It was deemed as a dead science, so no one practises it. We rely on technology and electricity. That, and where I'm from.." I couldn't help smiling as I said this. "The year is 2014."

"B-But that's one hundred years in the future!" Ed stared at me.

"Yeah, I know. Let me think for a moment..." It was April when I had last looked at the calendar at home. I had been here for about five or six months. "It would be September or October back home."

It was then that I realized how long I'd actually been home. I couldn't help wondering if my family actually missed me. My two older and two younger brothers, my parents, my friends.. Delilah and Gwen would freak if they knew I was here. But they probably thought I had passed away. I wish I had my phone, even if there was no signal. It would have kept the memory of home more alive, because I had a thousand photos.

"Really? You've been gone for a long time, haven't you?" Al commented.

My smile faltered slightly as I thought over his words again. "Yeah, about five or six months. I can't believe it's been so long.."

"I told you we'll help you get back, so don't get sad on us yet. If you can get here, you could get back. We'll find a way!" Ed grinned, and I couldn't help smiling again. He could be so encouraging when he tried.

"Thanks, guys. I can't believe I'm letting myself trouble you like this."

"It's no trouble! You're our friend."

My spirits lifted slightly at his words. Ed, like I had mentioned many times before, was my absolute favorite character from FMA, and he just said we were friends!

After five long, boring days, we found ourselves back at Sheska's place, who had finished copying Marcoh's research notes. I stared at the large piles of paper cluttering her desk in stacks. You would think that after seeing her house with so many books it wouldn't surprise me, but it's not like you see something like this daily. She had cleaned it up a bit, though, and now had a few bookshelves here and there.

"I'm sorry, because there were so many, it took me five days to complete. There are the duplicates to Mr. Tim Marcoh's research notes." Sheska gestured to the stacks of papers, smiling.

"She really did it.." Al sounded slightly amazed.

"There are incredible people in the world, aren't there, Al?" Ed stared at the stacks, wide-eyed.

"I hate books..." I muttered, ever the pessimist.

"Wow, it all makes sense now." Al commented. "If there was this much, there was no way he could run off with them."

"This is really Mr. Marcoh's?" Ed asked Sheska, smiling.

"Yes, without a doubt!" The bookworm comfirmed. "Tim Marcoh's culinary research documents, 1000 Flavors for Today's Menus!"

"HUH?" We all stared at her, dumbfounded.

Instead of listening to the bickering going on in the background, I picked up a stack and looked it over, my eyes skimming the writing on the paper.

"This is really what Mr. Marcoh wrote, word for word, without mistake, right?" Ed inquired.

"Yes, I'm positive!" Sheska replied.

"You're incredible. Thanks." Ed smirked. "Okay! Al, Emma, let's take this back to Central Library!"

"Um, okay." I grabbed a stack of the papers and huffed. They were heavy.

"And for helping us.. Second Lieutenant Ross! Here's my registration code, my signature, and my silver watch as proof of my identity. Go to the National Alchemist Division at the President's office, withdraw from my annual research funds the sum of money that I wrote, and give it to Sheska."

"Yes, sir."

"Sheska, thanks a lot! See ya!" Ed waved at her before the brothers, Brosh, and I left, each carrying a stack of papers. Was I going to have to help them translate? I didn't understand any of this. As we left, I could hear Ross and Sheska's yells of surprise at the amount Ed had scribbled down.

"Alchemists, live for the public. And just like those words, Alchemists have a code to give the fruits of their abilities to the ordinary people without bias. Because National Alchemists go against this code, their dogs of the military. On the other hand, we have to prevent ordinary people from learning of this knowledge." I didn't understand a word of what Ed was saying.

"Oh, I see. It would be a problem if alchemy were easily understandable and used for the wrong purposes." Brosh cleared it up, making it comprehensible for me.

"Yeah. And how do they prevent that from happening?" Ed asked, more to himself. I don't know, be quiet. You're making my brain hurt. "By coding their alchemic research documents. To an ordinary person it looks like they're only looking at culinary research documents, but they're really highly advanced filed on alchemy with many hidden readings and metaphors that only those who wrote it can understand."

"Something that only the one who wrote it can understand.. Then how are you going to decode it?" Brosh asked.

"By using a little knowledge and a lot of patience." Ed told him.

"Ugh, that seems to be daunting." Brosh sweatdropped.

"But I think that the parts were modeled after culinary research documents are still easy to decode." Al remarked. "After all, there are people who think alchemy was born from the kitchen. Brother's research notes are written like travelogues, so even if I read them I wouldn't understand."

"All right! Let's decode this and figure out the truth!" Ed looked at one of the papers, excited.

I began to slowly make my way over to the door, not wanting to spend days cooped up in a library room, trying to decode something. I had pretty good logical skills, but I didn't want to use them like this. I kept my eye on the brothers, who hadn't noticed me, while I grabbed onto the doorknob. I began to turn it silently and opened the door. I turned to make a run for it, but of course, was noticed and pointed out before that could happen.

"Emma? Where are you going?"

I turned my head around, sheepishly grinning at Ed. "Um.. Places?"

He stood up, seeming oblivious to my wanting to leave to get out of the decoding process, and grabbed my wrist to pull me back. I lowered my head. It was official, I was going to die. I sat down in a seat, grabbing a paper and glaring at it. I already knew the truth, and wished I could just tell them. It would cause troubles, though, so I was against that idea.

Over the days, I died a little more each minute, bored out of my mind. I had no clue how this worked, and my amazing logical abilities I had taken pride in were useless and not so amazing.

After a week, I was so tired that I had fallen asleep on the table. I didn't have any dreams that I remembered, and the sleep itself was short-lived.

"NO FUCKING WAY!"

I shrieked as I woke back up, almost throwing the chair back onto the floor. I rubbed what little sleep I had out of my eyes. "H-Hey! What's up?" I asked, standing up to look over Ed's shoulder at the paper. I had never seen him this angry before. His gold eyes flashed with fury.

Ross and Brosh burst in. "Wha-What happened?" Brosh asked. "Were you two fighting? Please calm dow-"

"No, it's not that." Al interrupted.

"Are you angry because you haven't broken the code...?" Ross inquired.

"We broke it.. The code..has been broken." Al told them

I stared at the result that was before me, half acting and half genuinely surprised. It seemed so much more real now that I was in the moment. "Oh really? Isn't that good-?"

Brosh was interrupted again, but this time by Ed who angrily punched the ground and shouted, "Is there anything good about this?! SHIT! The devil's research is what he called it.. You're despicable, Mr. Marcoh."

"Just what did you find out?" Brosh asked, looking concerned.

"The raw ingredients for the Philosopher's Stone.. Are living humans!"

There was a moment of silence, and I frowned to myself.

"I would have been happier if I hadn't learned about this." Ed remarked. "If what it says in the documents is true, then the raw materials to create a Philosopher's Stone are living humans! And it will take multiple sacrifices just to make one!"

"I can't believe something this inhumane was done in an organization under the military!" Brosh exclaimed.

"This is unforgivable!" Ross glared.

"2nd Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh.. Can you please not tell anyone about this?" Ed didn't meet their eyes.

"But-!"

"Please." Ed pleaded. "Please act like you never heard this."

The next day, the three of us were sitting in a room by ourselves in silence, thinking over the information we had just found. I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch that Ed was lying on. I wasn't all that surprised about the information, considering I already knew, but something about it was tugging at the edge of my mind.

"Brother, Emma..." Al broke the silence. "Go eat breakfast."

"I don't want anything." Ed refused.

"Not hungry." I said.

"I'm tired of this.." Ed began. "It's like... Just when I start thinking it's within my reach, it runs away from me. It keeps going like that. And this time, when I finally think I got a hold on it, I'm knocked down by what I caught. Ha ha... I guess God really hates men that broke his rules."

I knew what was coming next, when Ed first brought up the question of whether or not Al blamed him. I decided that I couldn't intrude any longer and stood up. "I'll be right back." I said quietly, leaving the room and walking into the bathroom. I closed and locked the door behind me.

I looked at myself in the mirror, unable to ignore the tug on my heart. For some reason, I missed my family more than anything right now. Usually, when I was upset, I knew that if I blew up or lost it, I would always have my family, even if they might not know what to do. Now, over the past few months, whenever I came close to losing it, I didn't have them around. I was the type of person that didn't often let themselves cry, choosing to keep it to myself. During these months, I didn't break down. Sure, I had shed a tear or two when my mind wandered, but afterward I would stop myself.

I noticed the way I was trembling, eyes welling up with tears. I missed my family. I missed my home, my world, my friends. I couldn't help wondering if they missed me back.

I shook my head, slapping my cheeks once. It was stupid to dwell on this. It wasn't the time right now. I knew that the Laboratory Five part was coming up very soon, today if my memory was correct. I didn't expect much that I would actually be there. I sighed, looking up until the blur in my vision disappeared. I flashed a smile, finding I looked relatively normal, and left the bathroom again.

"The truth inside the truth.." Ed muttered. I entered the room to see that now, Ross, Brosh, and Major Armstrong were there as well. "I get it, there's still something else. Something.."

Not much later, we were gathered around a table with a map spread out on it, talking about possible clues or suspicions. "There are currently four locations within Central that are alchemic research institutes that work under the military. Among those four is the one Dr. Marcoh worked for, the 3rd research institute." Major Armstrong explained.

"That one is the most suspicious." Ross commented.

"Yeah.. I passed through all of them after I got my national license. This one doesn't look like they were doing research that was all that important, though." Ed told us.

I pointed at the building known as the Fifth Laboratory as if I didn't know what it was. "What's that one?"

"Previously, that building used to be the fifth research institute. It is currently an usused deserted building. However, due to risk of collapsing, entrance is prohibited." Ross explained.

"That's the one." Ed stated, standing next to me to look at the building I had pointed out.

"Huh? How did you come to that conclusion?" Brosh inquired.

"There's a prison next to it." I answered, unable to hold myself back.

"Yeah. To make the Philosopher's Stone they need to use living humans as raw materials. Which means there's a place where they're supplied with raw materials. Now that I think about it, executed death-row inmates don't have their remains given to their families. The public is told they're put to their death on the gallows within the prison, but while they're still alive they're moved to the research institute. And over there, they're used for experiments for the Philosopher's Stone." Ed told us all.

"Don't you think that it's suspicious that the closest building to the prison is the research institute?"

"The inmates are raw materials.." Ross gave a look.

"Don't give me that look. Just explaining it is making me sick.

"Considering that this is a prison, I wonder if the government has a little involvement in this.." Brosh trailed off.

"Somehow I feel as if we've pushed our necks too far into something too big." Ross sweatdropped.

"That's why we told you to act like you didn't hear anything." Al sighed.

"However, that is ultimately speculation at present." Major Armstrong said, using words I didn't completely understand. "The nation may have no connection with this. This research organization may have acted independently."

"Yeah." Ed agreed.

"Who's in charge of this research organization?" Al inquired.

"That would be the 'Iron Blooded Alchemist', Brigadier General Basque Gran." Major Armstrong replied.

"Then we'll try talking to this Brigadier General Gran, and-"

"You cannot. He was murdered by Scar the other day. Many National Alchemists affiliated with the higher rankings of the military were killed by Scar. Among those that were killed, there may have been some that knew the truth. Should there actually be one in the high rank of the military other than Brigadier General Gran that is involved in this research, then it is inevitable that this will become complicated. I will probe into this matter and inform you later." Major Armstrong rolled up the map.

"Until then, the 2nd Lieutenant and the Sergeant are to keep quiet about this matter! The Elric brothers and their friend are to stay put!" Major Armstrong looked over at Al, Ed, and I before growling and beginning to yell. "You were thinking of sneaking off to investigate, weren't you?! You will not! Even though there may be a way to restore your bodies at that place, a child should not do such dangerous things!"

"I get it, I get it!" Ed shouted, holding up his hands. I shuddered. Major Armstrong looked scary when he was mad. "We won't do anything dangerous like that."

"We'll just wait for what the Major has to report." Al agreed.

Everyone soon filed out of the room, leaving me alone with the brothers once again. Ed smirked a bit after they left. "Like hell we'll stay put. We're definitely going. Emma, you'll stay here, though."

I frowned. "What? Why?"

"You're not good enough to defend yourself very well if something goes wrong and Al or I aren't there. It's dangerous."

"I can fight, I'll be fine!" Okay, so maybe that was a little lie. But I didn't want to miss out on any of the action. Truthfully, I kind of wanted to see the homonculi, even if they would attack me.

"You're staying here. It's better for all of us. Don't you think, Al?"

Al agreed with his brother. "Yeah. What Brother means is he doesn't want you to get hurt. Don't be mad, okay?"

I was silent for a second, trying to meet Ed's stare with one of my own, before faltering and sighing, looking away. "Fine." I crossed my arms over my chest. "I won't go. But you two have to promise not to get hurt, okay?"

Ed grinned. "Course not." He then stepped forward, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Don't sneak out after us, alright?"

"I won't." I replied, trying to seem believable. It wasn't the smartest idea, but I wasn't about to stay behind. It might be dangerous, but how could I ever get anything done if I always stayed behind.

Ed didn't say anything at first, and just continued to look at me as if testing me. He could probably tell I wasn't promising anything. I felt my cheeks tingle as they turned red, and I frowned. "Why are you staring at me?"

He turned back around, about to climb down the rope he and Al had created to get out of the window without being noticed. "Stay here." He called back at a quieter volume before leaving.

I sighed after he had left, placing a hand on my cheek. My situation was just getting more difficult. I had a feeling that this was only the beginning.

* * *

**A/N: I'm back! Sorry this chapter wasn't all that interesting, guys. I wrote some while having two friends over, so I was kind of distracted. I also didn't feel like writing much, because this was as boring for me to write as it probably was for you to read. xD**

**Anyways, I will now get to the Review. :3**

**ShonenMinecrafter1:**** Thanks a bunch! :D I never thought that people who read this actually liked it. c:**

**Thanks for reviewing! Also, I've failed to mention something that's been on my mind for awhile. In the first chapter I posted, when Emma was talking with Truth and accepted his offer, he mentioned a parting gift. I know what it is, but do any of you have guesses? I've given a few hints throughout the story, but tried to keep them subtle.**

**Thank you for reading! Please review, I really really want to know what you guys think of this. **

**Enjoy your Saturday!**


	6. Chapter 6

Two Sides of the Same Coin

? POV

I could tell I wasn't at home anymore as soon as I regained a little consciousness. I rolled over onto my back, the cement under me comfortable enough for now. It was kind of cool, and there was a chill in the air so it was probably night. I should have found some sort of shelter, but I was too tired and too lazy to open my eyes for the time being. I just wanted to sleep more.

I couldn't sleep, though, and gave up the idea when a spider had crawled up to my face. I slapped it away, hoping I had killed it. I didn't like spiders, but I wasn't necessarily afraid of them. That didn't mean I enjoyed them crawling all over my face, however.

I sat up and stretched, a stupid smile crossing my face. Here I was, no clue where I could be, away from my family, and I was smiling already. My sister probably played some sort of joke on me. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.

I looked around, unable to recognize my surroundings. It was night, dark out as I had predicted. I was in the city, I could tell, but no place I recognized. I stood up and began to walk out of the alley I was in. Were there any places like this around where I lived in California? Didn't think so. This place was weird, almost as if I had gone into the past.

My stomach growled loudly, catching the attention of the few people around me. I casually continued on my way, not letting myself be bothered. I placed a hand on top of my hair, noting how it was sticking out like usual. My hair was short because it was so insanely curly, and therefore often stuck out in various directions, especially after I had been sleeping. Or passed out. It's almost the same thing.

I couldn't help noting that I was tired, even though I had probably just been passed out since forever. I tried to remember what had happened back home. My sister had been bothering me, as usual, but I felt there was something else, something more important, that I was forgetting.

My brain was mush, it wouldn't help me. "Ah, whatever. Useless brain.." I muttered, gaining looks once again. I sent them all smiles. That's right, appreciate my amazingness!

I heard footsteps, and looked behind me to see a girl about my age round the corner quickly, looking desperate. She accidentally bumped into me, and glanced back, panting with a slightly flushed face. "Excuse me, I'm sorry!" She turned back around and began running again.

She looked awfully familiar. I could have sworn I had heard that voice before. I frowned to myself, debating internally. I talked to a close friend who sounded and looked exactly like her, now that I thought about it. But that friend had disappeared months ago, without a trace. Everyone had assumed she died even though no one knew for sure.

Unless... Could that have been her? I decided to ask her, but I would first have to catch up. I didn't even know where she went! I sucked in a breath and ran off.

Emma POV

Soon after Ed and Al left, I walked over to the window and gave the rope a good tug to make sure it was still sturdy. I grabbed hold of it and climbed down, losing my grip halfway through and falling onto my ass. I winced. That was going to take some work.

I stood back up, trying to remember the directions to the Fifth Laboratory that I had looked over a couple thousand times earlier. I had a feeling Ed and Al would tell me to stay behind, so I had attempted to memorize the directions just in case. I had a horrible memory, though, so you can guess that it didn't work out so well.

I started off in the direction I thought was right, but I wasn't sure. I began to run, feeling slightly desperate. I wanted to get there before I was lost, because that would cause a whole bunch of new problems.

It was dark out. I normally enjoyed the night, but today was different, especially since I knew that Ed and Al were going to get hurt. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I rounded a corner and barreled into someone. My cheeks turned red out of embarrassment. "Excuse me, I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized, only taking a second to glance at their features. She was a girl about as old as I was, and I felt like I knew her.

I didn't allow myself to think about it, and instead ran back off, determined to make it to the Fifth Laboratory before something happened. After many twists and turns, I finally made it, although I was considerably out of breath. Of course. I didn't let myself stop, though, and I snuck around to the side where Ed and Al had loosened some of the barbed wire earlier. I grabbed ahold of it with my left hand, the automail one, and placed my flesh hand on the wall because I couldn't grab onto the wire with that one.

I tugged on it once before using it to pull myself up a bit and launch to the top. I landed on the other side without too much of a problem, slightly impressed with myself. If I were at home, I would have never been able to do this. I looked back ahead, seeing Al and Number 66 fighting. I decided to stay quiet and lay low until I found a reason to enter.

"What would you do if.." Number 66 started, "Your memory and personality were artificially created by your brother?"

I glared at him. I hated this part. I could never understand why Al would even consider that to be true, especially since he was told that by a criminal, a murderer.

"Th-There's no way that can be true! I'm definitely a human being named Alphonse Elric!" Al denied.

Number 66 laughed. "Then what the hell's a soul?! How do you prove that something that can't be described, that can't be seen, exists?"

"That's a load of bullshit!" I yelled, stepping forward, glaring at the cackling serial killer. "Al exists, so quit trying to tell anyone otherwise!"

Al looked over at me. "Emma, what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay back!"

"I had a feeling that someone needed help.. And look at me, I was right for once. You can't honestly doubt that you exist, Al! He's just trying to get into your head!"

"Oh, and do you have any proof for that, little girl? For all he knows, you could just be in on it too! A scheme to fool him into believing he ever existed!" Number 66 taunted me.

I growled. "Oh, spare me. You're just trying to beat him from the inside because you know you're not strong enough to beat him in a fight!"

"What was that?!" Number 66 sounded pissed, which satisfied me. I hated him.

"Emma, cut it out! You're just going to make him even more mad!"

"But it's true. I saw some of the fight, you're much better than him." I looked over at Al innocently.

"Where's the proof the person you're talking about really existed?" Number 66 started up again. "Where's the flesh?!"

"Then what about you?!" Al yelled back.

"FREEZE!" A soldier shouted, aiming at us with a gun. "Entrance here is forbidden! Leave immediat-!" Before he could finish his sentence, Number 66 had sliced his head right off of his shoulders, leaving my eyes to widen. This was the first time I had seen a death, especially like this.

"Shaddup." Number 66 sounded bored. "'Then what about you?', was it? It's simple! I love cutting the meat of living people! There ain't nothing better for me than killing! I kill, therefore I am! This is the proof that I exist! I'm satisfied with just that!"

With that, he lunged at me, who was still taken aback by the sudden kill I had seen. I looked back up at him and side-stepped his attack, not fully into the battle yet. He had just killed a man, swiped his head right off! In the anime it didn't seem so bad, but witnessing it brought a sick feeling to my stomach.

Number 66 brought his knife down. I, not having enough time to dodge completely, held up my automail arm, effectively blocking the attack. I couldn't avoid the next kick in the stomach, though, and went flying back, coughing violently a few times. I may have gotten better in sparring, but I still wasn't as good as Ed and Al.

I shoved myself back up, a frown embedded on my face. I wasn't quite sure how to attack, so I went for the option of knocking his head off. That would cause him some problems, and it would hold him back. I jumped towards him, pulling my fist back to punch his head. He moved right out of the way, just far enough to avoid the attack. He swiped at me with his huge knife again in incredibly fast speed, and I couldn't dodge completely, leaving me with a gash in my side that immediately began bleeding and hurt like hell. I cursed.

I landed a few feet away. "Damnit!" I cried out, my side causing me pain. I didn't know how people could do it, get back up so easily after attacks like this. It was hard. I glanced over at Al quickly. He was trembling slightly, probably thinking over what Number 66 had told him.

"Keep your head in the fight, girly!"

I looked over at Number 66, only to have my vision blocked by a punch to the face. The impact threw me onto the ground on my back, leaving me to see stars. I felt a blow to my lower chest, causing me to jerk in pain. Tears filled my vision, but I blinked them back so he couldn't see. When I opened my eyes next, I found Number 66 to be standing right over me, his foot firmly implanted in my chest. He stomped down once more, causing me to cough violently, a metallic-tasting liquid slowly entering my mouth.

"Pathetic! You can't even hold your own! This is the end of the line for you!" He held up his knife, about to bring it back down, but there was a loud gunshot, and the huge knife flew from his hand.

"Huh?" I smirked up at him weakly. I knew who it was. Ross and Brosh were finally here. One more second and I would have been a goner.

"Don't move!" Ross shouted, her and Brosh still holding out their guns. "Next time we'll aim for your head! Hand over the girl and the person in the large suit of armor."

"What're you guys supposed to be?" Number 66 inquired.

"We're the ones who were entrusted with the task of guarding those people." Ross answered.

"Ah, shit. You escorts had to butt in just when it was getting fun." He complained. "What happened to that other gua- Oh wait, I sliced him. Whoopsy."

I gritted my teeth.

Number 66 sighed. We were all silent for a bit, and suddenly a rumbling noise emitted from the building by us. I tensed. I completely forgot about the explosion! "What's that noise?" Brosh wondered aloud.

Cracks began to form everywhere in the building, and the noise got louder.

"Wha-?!" I think by that point we were all slightly panicking.

"An explosion!" Ross exclaimed. "Sergeant! We have to evacuate!"

A surge of adrenaline rushed through me, and I rolled myself over, hissing at the pain that stabbed my torso. I tried to push myself up, but didn't get far, only falling back over. Al was standing staring at the building. "What are you doing?" Ross shouted at him, rushing over to me and helping me up. "Run away!"

"Brother's sti-!" Al's voice had risen, and I could hear the fear for his brother's life.

"Wai-!" Ross grabbed onto him, letting go of me with one of her hands. She continued to hold me up with the other. "Where are you going?!"

Good thing I was so light, only being two inches taller than a certain Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Brother's still inside! Let go of me!" Al cried, pulling his arm away.

"Don't be stupid! You'll be buried alive!"

I didn't pay any attention to Number 66, who was cackling loudly as he ran. What a coward. I despised people like him, who acted high and mighty when attacking those vulnerable and then running with their tail between their legs when the table turned.

"Brother... Brother is-!" Al fell to his knees.

"Think about trying to get out of here first!" Ross tried to get him to run. The building around us was beginning to crumble. I felt useless, watching with wide eyes. I wasn't afraid to admit that I was scared. I knew they made it out alive, but I was beginning to have slight doubts. I couldn't help fearing for my life.

"Howdy, y'all!" Envy emerged from the building, Ed slung over his shoulders. "I've come to drop off some baggage."

"Brother!" Al exclaimed.

Envy set him on the ground, and Ross knelt down by him, placing me down. I held myself in a sitting position, ignoring the pain that it brought. "He isn't in any danger of dying, but he's lost a bit of blood, so put him in a hospital as soon as you can, along with her." Envy told us, glancing towards me at the end. "You guys gotta do a better job of looking after them, so they don't go off doing anything dangerous. They're precious material, you know." He sighed.

I stared up at Envy with a little frown, hoping to make it clear that I didn't trust him at all. When listening to what he was saying, it sounded as if I was a sacrifice too, which I didn't want to me.

"2nd Lieutenant Ross, what are you doing?! Hurry up!" Brosh came running, my attention away from the homonculus standing in front of me.

Ross looked over at him. "Sergeant, give me a hand!" She shouted through the rumbling.

"How did he get hurt so badly?" The Sergeant inquired.

"Save that for later!" Ross looked back to where Envy had been standing. "You get away too-!" She paused. "Eh? He's gone?"

"What are you doing?" Brosh yelled back again.

"R-Right!" Ross turned to me and helped me up, so I had one arm around her neck and she had an arm around my waist to hold me up. She pulled me along, forcing me to run, which hurt like hell, but it was better than dying. The explosion was loud when it sounded behind us, sending rubble flying everywhere. It was then hot, erasing the coolness of the night and permanently scarring my eardrums. That was all I remembered before I let the darkness overtake me.

When I woke up again, I was alone in a room. The light pierced through my eyelids and I rolled over, hissing slightly as I did so, laying a hand on my side. I opened my eyes to be met with a hospital room. I groaned, letting all the people that weren't here know my opinion of the situation. Was I beat up that bad? My side was bandaged and my chest hurt where I had been stomped on multiple times. I had a few bandages here and there on my face and I had a pounding headache. Why did everything in the hospital have to be white?

I looked over at the open windows through squinted eyes, hoping someone would come in soon to close the blinds.

I yawned once, my eyes still droopy. Man, I was tired. The last time I was in the hospital wasn't this bad. I had gotten bronchitis and needed an x-ray to tell the doctors whether or not I would have to stay. I didn't have to, but I got antibiotics and crap. Ever since then, I got sick a lot because of my lungs, and needed prescription once more after that, which was the December before the April I found myself in FMA.

The door opened, and out of habit, I looked over and spoke what I did the last time a hospital door opened and someone came in. "Mom?"

My cheeks reddened when I saw Ross and Brosh enter, and I couldn't ignore the slight disappointment I felt. It was stupid, wanting my mom to be here, but I missed her a lot, especially while I was hurt like this. "Sorry.." I mumbled.

"You're finally awake." Ross addressed me, her and Brosh walking up to my bed.

Oh crap. I think I knew what was going to happen next.

"Please excuse me for what I am about to do next!" Ross said, before lifting her hand and slapping me, right across the face. "You were specifically told to stay put! The Major was looking into this, yet you ignored his kindness and rushed on out! You know you cannot defend yourself well enough at this point in time, and now you're in the hospital!"

I looked up at her with wide eyes. I called it.

"Please excuse me for slapping you." She finished, still looking down at me with a stern look.

I lifted a hand to my throbbing cheek, looking away. "No, it's fine. I deserved it. I actually snuck out after telling Ed and Al I wouldn't, so I'm honestly fine with being slapped." I smiled lightly.

"So you're not upset?" Ross asked me.

I looked back up at her with a grin and shook my head. "Nope!"

Her facial expression softened. "I forgot to mention, you have a visitor. She claims to have known you for a few years, but we weren't sure."

My grin turned into a dumbfounded look. "Huh? What's her name?"

"If I remember correctly.. I believe it was Gwenivere Blanche."My eyes widened. Gwen was here? Here in FMA, too? How? "What? Is she here right now?" I shot up into a sitting position.

They looked slightly taken aback by my reaction. "Yes, she's right outside the door." Brosh told me.

"Can you send her in?" I requested, beaming. Gwen, my best friend. She was here!

"Of course." Ross and Brosh opened the door and left the room, and soon after a familiar girl entered the room, the same girl I had run into earlier. She was Indian, with curly, black puffy hair and a wide, friendly grin.

"Yo, what's up, Ems?"

* * *

**A/N: Hiya! Oh God, I had so many grammatical errors when I edited this, sorry if I missed some. It's so insanely hot here. We've had 12 days of school canceled earlier in the year because of the snow, so it was all cold, and then POOF 80 degrees Fahrenheit. **

**It's so hot out, I think I'm dying. I'm so tired.**

**Anyways, I'm happy because I got two reviews over the last chapter. Thank you guys SO SO much! I was really upset last night, and I checked this story and saw that I got new reviews. I read them and I got all happy again. x3**

**ShonenMinecrafter1: Really? :O Thank you! I hope I can continue to live up to your expectations. And to the guess (I think that's what it was, if not then I'm sorry. XD), not quite, but it was revealed in this chapter so it's okay~.  
**

**LITTLE RED FOXX:**** Thank you! ^.^ Trust me, I don't plan on stopping to write anytime soon, this is too much fun. **

**Thank you both for the amazing reviews, they made my day. Please, if you have the time, guys, continue to review. As you can probably see, they make me really happy. c:**

**Have a great day!**


	7. Chapter 7

Two Sides of the Same Coin

"Gwen!" I exclaimed at seeing her, beaming. I would have jumped up to hug her, but I couldn't for two reasons: I was connected to an IV and I had injured my ribs. "How did you get here?"

"I'll tell you when I know, friend." Gwen replied, walking up to my bed. She looked at my bandaged side, eyes wide. "Does it hurt?" She asked, poking it.

I hissed when she did so. "Of course, idiot!" I smacked her hand away. "Don't touch."

Gwen laughed. "Whoops."

I grinned too, but the grin faded after a few seconds. "Hey... What's it like back home?" I asked her, looking down.

Gwen's smile evaporated as well. "After you went missing that day.. Everyone freaked out. From what I heard, your mom called your dad, freaking out. We all had this big search for you, but no one found you. All of our friends at school were really quiet for the longest time, not saying much. No one even smiled. Your mom refused to hold a funeral or anything like that, saying she knew for a fact you were still alive. Everyone really misses you, Emma."

My facial expression darkened as my best friend told me this. I felt incredibly guilty, making everyone feel like this. I didn't even think that anyone would take my disappearance so seriously.

"Hey." Gwen interrupted my thoughts, placing her hand on my shoulder. "But you're okay, right? They're starting to smile again, and they'll be okay. We'll get home."

I smiled lightly. "Yeah, we will. I actually got Ed and Al to help me out, and I'm learning alchemy. They're probably kind of upset with me, though."

"Why's that?"

"They told me to stay behind when they went to the Fifth Laboratory, but I didn't and now I'm in the hospital." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, you're kind of an idiot." Gwen told me.

"Oh thanks." I said, smiling. "Like you're one to talk, though."

"I know." She laughed. "When are you going to be able to walk again?"

"I have no clue. How did you get in here? I highly doubt they'd trust someone like you." I asked her curiously.

"Now that's an interesting story." Gwen grinned. "See, this is how it happened. After you ran into me on your way to the laboratory, I decided to follow you, but got lost for what seemed like forever. I then found the hospital the next day and assumed that's where you'd be. Because, you know, I'm smart like that. I went into the hospital and asked the lady person at the front if there was an Emma here who got admitted yesterday. She gave me this really weird look, and then another chick came up to me and asked how I knew you. It was Lieutenant Ross, actually, and she looked suspicious of me, so I said that we were besties forever, which seemed to really confuse her.

I then talked to Al, who was hanging around, probably thinking about what that douche said, and asked if he knew you. He asked how I knew you, and again, I said we were besties forever and that I've known you for years. He accidentally let something about the gate slip, and didn't believe that I knew you until I mentioned that, and then he convinced Lieutenant Ross to let me see you." She finished.

"Oh God, you said besites forever? We're in 1914, of course they wouldn't understand that." I sighed.

Gwen grinned proudly. "But it worked."

"Yeah, yeah." I was silent for a minute, before I growled in annoyance. "I have to get out of this bed! I can't take it in here anymore! It's too bright!"

"Hey, they left a wheelchair, I'll drive you around in that!" Gwen exclaimed ripping off the IV. I winced, hoping that wasn't too important. My friend helped me into the wheelchair, her usual idiotic smile plastered onto her face. "Where to?" She asked.

"Anywhere that's not here." I mumbled.

"Wanna go bother someone?" Gwen suggested.

"Um, depends on who 'someone' is. Just drive around through the halls for now, but not too fast and try not to get lost. That'd be a pain, and then I'd get into more trouble."

"Let's go to the cafeteria, maybe they have some food." She said, more to herself, as she drove me out of the room.

"Food is good. Onward!" I declared. Gwen grinned and started down the hall, twisting and turning here and there. She once came across Ross and ran away before she could see us. It took a lot for me to contain my laughter. We never did find the cafeteria, though, because we made this whole thing into an adventure, choosing not to look at the signs that probably would have made everything a lot easier on us.

Apparently, while we were out being idiots, Lieutenant Ross had come to my room to check on me, but I wasn't there. I found this out when Gwen drove me to Ed's room, to which I was told that she had just gone to look.

"Oh..." I muttered, sweatdropping. "Better, go back. Gwenivere!" I looked back at her, we nodded simutaniously, and sped back off. We met Ross halfway there, and she gave us a scolding before taking us right back to Ed's room.

Gwen ran off to the bathroom, and then Ed and I were left alone to talk, and he wasn't real happy that I had snuck off. "Why did you leave after telling us you wouldn't?" He asked me, frowning.

"I had a feeling that you guys were in trouble." I told him before gesturing to him, who was laying in his hospital bed. "Turns out I was right."

"It was still stupid! Don't tell me you were looking for a way back to your home!" Ed's voice rose slightly.

"So what if I was? I couldn't stay back and do nothing without knowing whether or not you guys were okay!" I was slightly peeved about him bringing up the situation about my home. It was a touchy subject.

"We would have been fine anyways!" Ed insisted.

"Oh, what's this I spy? A lover's quarrel?" Gwen's voice came from the doorway.

I blushed, and at the same time Ed and I yelled, "NO!"

"Who even are you, anyways?" Ed asked, looking more than a little mad.

Gwen didn't seem bothered by this, and she skipped into the room. "I'm Gwen! Ems and I are bes-"

"She's a close friend from back home." I told the blonde before Gwen could once again say 'besties forever.'

"You mean from..?"

I nodded. "Yeah, although she claims she just showed up a day or two ago."

Ed gave my friend a suspicious look, as if not quite trusting her, to which she replied with a wide grin.

Gwen seemed to be able to sense the tension in the room. She decided to break the silence. "So what were you two arguing about?" She asked, making me frown.

"Nothing. Gwen, can you take me back to my room?" I asked her, deciding to leave Ed alone for now.

"Mhm." She turned my chair around and drove me back to my room, attempting to maintain a cheerful attitude, probably to put me into a better mood. "I know something's bothering you, Ems, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no, it's fine. He just got mad at me about the whole Fifth Laboratory deal. He then brought up home, which is kind of a sensitive subject, so I was pissed off." I explained, crossing my arms over my chest with a small hiss of pain.

Gwen was quiet for a few seconds before changing the subject, seeing how home was hard for me to talk about. "So... Do you like him?"

I choked on nothing as she said that, my face turning red. "Wh-What do you mean?"

Gwen grinned. "You know what I mean. It's a simple question. You had an anime crush on him back home, right? So, do you still like him?"

"I-It doesn't matter if I do or not. It'd never work. This isn't fanfiction where everything's perfect. He has Winry anyways, I'm just some looney chick from the other side of the gate. Besides, even if he did, it wouldn't work because I have to go back home eventually." I trailed off at the end.

"So you do. I thought so. Don't be so pessimistic! It might all work out." Gwen tried to console me.

"It's alright even if everything goes wrong. I have you, so I'm not alone anymore. I don't have to worry about being the only freak in Amestris." I smiled up at Gwen, trying to poke fun to change the subject.

"Psh. Amestris or America, we'll always be freaks." Said girl poked my head, steering the wheelchair back into my room. She put her arm around my waist to help me up and lay me back into the bed. I squinted my eyes.

"Gwen, can you close the blinds?" I asked her, holding up my left hand to shield myself from the sun."

"Yep!" Gwen skipped to the other side of the room and closed the blinds before looking back at me and gasping. "You have automail? No way!"

Before I had a chance to react, Gwen had pulled up my sleeve to inspect the automail. "This is so cool! How did it happen?"

"I lost it as a toll when Truth took me here. Both of my legs are automail, too. Waking up was hell." I grumbled.

"I didn't lose any limbs or anything else." Gwen told me.

"Well, before I went through the gate the rest of the way, Truth said I'd get a parting gift, which might have been where you came from. It explains why you didn't lose anything when you came here." I replied after thinking back to my encounter with the asshole.

"Might be. Oh, hey, I-"

Gwen was interrupted when my door flew open, revealing a certain Winry Rockbell, who had a worried look on her face. "Emma! You're in the hospital, too? I thought I told them not to drag you into anything!" The blue-eyed female made her way over to my bed before she noticed Gwen. "Who're you?"

Gwen gave her a little frown. She never liked Winry. "Gwen. Emma's my bestie forever, so she can't be your bestie forever."

I would have facepalmed. "Good gate, Gwen, try being nice. Sorry about her, Winry." I smiled sheepishly at the automail mechanic.

"Um, it's fine. Is your automail damaged or anything?" She asked, turning her attention back to me.

"Not that I know of." I thought of when Number 66 had attempted to slice through my arm and inspected the steel there, to find that there wasn't even a dent. "Nope, it's good!" I couldn't help being impressed. That knife was huge.

"Good! I need to fix Ed's, no surprise there." Winry didn't mention the screw she had forgotten to add to Ed's arm.

"Yeah, really. I wasn't in any huge fight like he was, though."

"Emma, have you seen all of your bandages? You're in the hospital, I'd say you were in a pretty intense fight." Winry told me, her hands on her hips.

I felt badass, so I didn't bother mentioning that I was just too inexperienced to take care of myself in a battle that would have been easy for just about every person ever. "I guess. I can't wait to be back up. This is like when I was waiting for the automail for my arm and legs."

"Ha, you were crippled." Gwen grinned, poking my nose. "Boop!"

"Laugh it up." I replied, unable to admit that I actually was amused by her comment.

"Losing your limbs isn't anything to laugh about." Winry told Gwen, sending a small glare her way. "It's painful and the rehabilation process is really hard, not to mention connecting the nerves and the trauma that comes with losing a part of your body in the first place."

"I never asked you." Gwen told her, returning the glare.

I rolled my eyes. "Guys, please no fighting. I'm really not in the mood for that."

"I'm going to go fix Ed's arm." Winry smiled at me, refusing to acknowledge a certain Gwenivere Blanche. "Talk to you in a bit."

"M'kay!" I called after her as she left.

"How can you stand her?" Gwen asked me, frowning in the direction Winry had just left to. "She's so annoying."

"She's not that bad, Gwen, and she's a good friend."

"Yeah, sure. I still don't like her, though." My Indian friend told me.

"So long as you don't fight all the time. That would get annoying."

She grinned at me. "No promises!"

A few days later, I could finally walk as long as I didn't run or try anything crazy, so I was walking with Winry to Ed's room. Gwen had decided to go and explore the hospital again, so she was probably out somewhere, lost. Eh, I would look around some later.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard Al shout, "I didn't want to get this body!"

I froze, not expecting the yell, Winry moved my arm gently and stepped in, her eyes as wide as mine.

"I didn't want to.. get this body.."

"I'm sorry.." Ed apologized, looking like he really regretted whatever it was that he had just said. "Yeah, it's also my fault that everything got screwed up. That's why I want to restore your body as soon as possible."

"And what proof is there that you're really going to restore my body?" Al inquired, sounding scornful.

"I'll definitely restore your body! Trust me!" Ed told him.

"Trust, huh? You're telling me to trust whatever's in this hollow body?!"

I wanted to butt in, to stop Al. I really did. But I knew it wasn't my place to, so I didn't.

"In alchemy, they say a human is made from the flesh, the mind, and the soul! But was there ever a person that proved that in an experiment?!" Al's voice had risen considerably, and I could tell he was really upset. "If you think about it logically, memories are just information. So it ought to be possible to artificially create them."

"What are you talking about?" Ed looked horrified.

"Brother, you said there was something you were too scared to tell me before, right? Could that have been something like my soul and memories are completely fake?! Brother, how do you prove that a person named Alphonse Elric really existed?! Right.. Isn't it possible that Winry, Granny, Emma, everybody is tricking me? Well, is it, Brother?!"

Ed slammed his hands on the table loudly, making me flinch. "Is that.. What you have been holing inside you all this time? Is that everything you want to say?"

Silence.

"I see." Ed stood up and walked past us, down the hall, and out of sight.

"Ed!" Winry called.

"You idiot!" I couldn't help shouting at Al, my eyes moistening slightly.

Winry came back in with a wrench, looking absolutely livid. She smacked Al with it as hard as she could. "DUMMY!"

"W-What was that for?!" Al exclaimed, taken aback.

Winry stood in front of him, tears streaming down her face. "Al, you dummy!" She shouted, hitting him again. "You don't know how Ed feels! That thing he was too scared to tell you.. Was that if you blamed him for what happened! He cried every night, moaning with the pain and fever that came from automail surgery! But.. But you're still.. In just what world is there an idiot that would throw away their own life to create a fake little brother?"

"Brothers are precious.." I mumbled, trying to hide my own tears, unable to stop myself from thinking about my own four brothers. "You can't just create one! You.. You can't just.." I cut myself off, unable to speak anymore. Don't get me wrong, Al was an amazing character, but how could he let himself believe for a moment that he was a fake?

"Isn't he your only brother?" Winry asked, wiping her eyes. She pointed out the door. "Chase after him!"

"Ah.. Okay." Al stood up and ran off.

"Hurry up!" Winry yelled out after him, looking out through the door. She looked back at me, who was swiping at her eyes furiously. My body shook. I couldn't believe that I was releasing my emotions now, in front of so many people. I took in a deep breath, trying to collect myself until later, when I was alone. "Emma.."

"No." I said. "Stop.. I'm fine. I.. I just need to be alone right now." I shot her a weak smile. "Don't worry about me." I walked out of the room and down the hall, back to my own room, taking deep, shaky breaths. I felt incredibly pathetic.

An hour or so later, the door opened. I looked up from the nest I had made on my bed out of a pillow and blanket to see Al standing in the doorway. "What's up?" I asked.

"A-Are you okay?" He inquired.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"But I made you cry!" He said, sounding guilty.

"No, it wasn't you, don't worry about it. It's just.. while you were talking I couldn't help but think of my own brothers from back home. God, they're so annoying. I never thought I'd miss them." I looked down with a grin.

"You had brothers?" Al inquired.

"Yep, four of them. Let's see, right now, they would be.. Seventeen, fifteen, eleven, and ten. Time really flies by. They're all so annoying, but at the same time the best siblings I could have asked for. I miss them a lot."

"I'm sure they miss you, too. You're their sister." Al tried to comfort me.

"Yeah, but I'll make sure I see them soon. I have to go home sometime, right?"

"Of course! Brother and I will help you! You and the other girl, uh.."

"Gwen." I grinned.

"Yeah."

"Thanks a bunch, Al." I stood up and walked over to the fourteen year old, giving the giant suit of armor a hug. He seemed taken aback at first, but then awkwardly patted my back, to which I giggled mentally. He was so adorable. I pulled back. "Let's go back to the others."

* * *

**A/N: Oh god, I'm sorry this chapter was so horrifying. I wanted to post once more today before going back to school tomorrow, so I was in a rush. I'm sorry Emma exploded, I didn't plan that shit.**

**This is quick because I gotta go, but what did you all think of Gwen? xD Please review, I like feedback, let me know if I'm good or if I suck.**

**Bai!**


	8. Chapter 8

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Later in the day, Gwen, Ed, Al, Hughes, Major Armstrong, and I were all gathered in Ed's hospital room, listening to his experience at the Fifth Laboratory. There were various sketches layed out across the table to help with the explanation. We were trying to deduct some clues.

"And after I was kicked by this guy, I don't remember anything else." Ed finished, holding up a drawing of Envy.

"Soul guardians.. Precious sacrifices.. Allowed to live.. A person named Envy.. And according to Mr. Marcoh, the Stones were used even at the east area civil war." Major Armstrond said. "A tattoo of the Ouroboros. The transmutation circle for the Philosopher's Stones. There are many mysteries just concerning the experiments on the Stone. Even if we try to investigate this any further, the research institute is in a pile of rubber now."

We were all silent for a moment.

"Something might pop up if I fish through the crime list at the tribunal." Hughes looked at the picture of the Ouroboros tattoo.

"I will do some investigating of those subordinates of Mr. Marcoh that are believed to have participated in the research of the Stone." Armstrong told us.

Two knocks sounded at the door, which then opened, revealing the Fuhrer, who was smiling.

"President King Bradely!" All but Gwen and I exclaimed. My friend, who was next to me, gave me a small pinch, and I would have sent her a knowing look had it not been to risky.

"Ah, be quiet, just like that." The Fuhrer help up one hand.

"Yes, sir.." Major Armstrong complied.

"Mr. President, why have you come to a place like this? Hughes asked.

"Why, to drop off a get-well present." The Fuhrer held out a basket of melons to Ed. "Do you hate melons?"

"Uh, thank you." Ed looked dumbfounded as he accepted the gift.

"And who might you two be?" The Fuhrer asked Gwen and I, turning around to face us.

I offered a smile, determined not to let Gwen speak. She would definitely blow our cover. "I'm Emma Owens, and this is my friend, Gwenivere Blanche. We've been traveling with Ed for awhile." I covered up.

"I see." He then turned back to the rest of the group, leaving me to let out a silent breath of relief. "It seems that you have done a bit of investigating on the military brass, Major."

"Wha-?! No, I mean- I.." Major Armstrong stammered. "How did you..?"

"Don't take my intelligence network lightly. And Edward Elric.. 'The Philosopher's Stone,' was it? How much do you know? Depending on the situation.." The Fuhrer seemed to loom over Ed, who looked incredibly nervous. It was silent for a few moments before the Fuhrer began to laugh. "I was kidding! You don't have to be so defensive."

"Say what?" Ed looked relieved.

"I also know that there are some disturbing movements within the military. I want to do something about this. However..." The Fuhrer picked up one of the papers, making my heart skip a beat. "Oh, a list of the names of those who worked on the research of the Philosopher's Stones before. I've investigated this quite thoroughly. All of these people's current whereabouts are unknown. The enemy is always a step ahead of us. And even with my intelligence network, we presently know nothing of the size, nor the objectives, nor how far the enemy has penetrated." The Fuhrer told us.

"In other words, to conduct a search would be very dangerous, right?" Hughes inquired.

"Yes." The Fuhrer answered. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. Major Armstrong. Elric Brothers. Ms. Owens and Ms. Blanche. I have judged that you are worthy of being trusted. And I will give you an order for your own safety. I will not permit you to involve any more people in this, nor will I allow you to speak of this with any others! As we don't know who our enemies and allies are, you must not trust anyone! Act as if you believe everyone in the military is an enemy! But, when the time comes, be ready, as I will have you work for me without a restraint."

Gwen and I exchanged a look. We weren't even in the military.

"Yes sir!" Major Armstrong and Hughes saluted.

"Sir! Where are you, Mr. President!" We heard people from the hallways calling.

The Fuhrer went over to the window. "Argh! Not good! My annoying subordinates have come after me! This is because I snuck out from work. I have to go back!" He gave a wave and jumped out. "We shall meet again. Farewell."

We all gathered by the window in awkward silence, watching even after the Fuhrer left. Gwen and I exchanged another look, but this was a careful one, saying that neither of us trusted the President.

The door opened and Winry came in. "Huh?" She wondered. "What's wrong, everybody? The two people outside were frozen solid."

"There was a storm.. " Ed lied, not very believably, as he gave off a confused aura.

"Oh. Well, I brought the train tickets you asked me to get." Winry changed the subject and help up an evelope, to which Ed smiled.

"Oh, thanks." He then looked over at me. "Are you and Gwen going to come?"

I nodded. "Hell yeah."

"Of course!" Gwen agreed.

"Take me take me take me!" Winry had anime sparkled in her eyes and she grinned widely.

"Go by yourself." Ed blew her off without a second thought.

"Who's paying for the trip?" Winry glared at him.

"Are you threatening me?" Ed asked, returning the glare.

"Isn't it OK? Plus, it's on the way." Al told them, probably trying to prevent a fight.

"Oh, whatever." Ed looked away. I chuckled in amusement.

Gwen frowned, grumbling to herself. "Yay!" Winry cheered. "I planned to go back to Resembool, but I've changed plans. I'll go call Granny!" With that, the blonde left the room.

"She's pretty happy." Al commented.

"Yeah, she'll be a good wife." Hughes said, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Not as good as mine, though."

"Don't say that to me!" Ed yelled, immediately peeved. "And don't sneak something in about your own love life!"

I smiled to myself, feeling my heart ache. I knew that this was one of the last times I would see Hughes, and even though we never really talked, I felt kind of hollow. It took a lot for me to decide to go with Ed and Al. I argued with myself for a long time, but eventually came to the conclusion that I couldn't change the plot more than I already was, even if it meant hating myself for it.

I had a long and in-depth talk about this with Gwen the other night, and she agreed with me. We both didn't want to just leave him behind, but we couldn't change the plot, heartless as that may sound.

All of this was why I couldn't bring myself to be too upset when Hughes replied to Ed by saying, "So you rather it'd be Emma?"

Instead, I tried to hide my red cheeks as Ed continued to protest.

We were all later on the train, using different booths because we had more people with us. Gwen and I sat across from each other in one, and Ed, Al, and Winry sat in another one, Ed next to Winry and across from Al.

I didn't say goodbye to the others, I was too tired. I had my head against the window, already about to fall asleep. I hadn't slept much at all the night before, having too much on my mind to think about.

So it's safe to say I slept through about half of the train ride, surprised Gwen didn't bother me. I figured out why, however, when I woke up to find her asleep, too. I turned to face the other booth, sitting on my knees and resting my chin on my hands that were folded across the seat.

Al, who was facing me, noticed and I smiled at him, pretty sure I would have gotten one back if he could smile physically. I looked down at Ed and Winry, who were doing their own thing, Winry looking close to dozing off.

"Sorry for yelling at you earlier." I apologized to Ed, who looked up at me in slight surprise.

"It's fine." He said, grinning after a second.

I was never good with fighting, and usually the first to apologize. The thought of always being alert around someone you were going to spend a considerable amount of time with didn't go well with me. I glanced at the box Winry was holding, and the smell made my eyes widen. "Apple pie?!" I exclaimed. Boy, did I love that stuff. "Can I have some?"

Winry looked up at me too, and I couldn't help a sheepish grin, since I had snapped her out of her daydreams. "Sure." She said, handing me a piece.

"Thank you!" I plopped back into my seat, taking a bite of the pie. It was amazing, the sweet taste of apple mixed with spices and crust melting on my tongue. I was in heaven.

Of course, only until I finished the piece. Then I was upset before getting over it in a few minutes. I was already bored, and Gwen was asleep. I didn't have a sharpie, so I looked out of the window, but that barely had me entertained for a few minutes. I looked back at Gwen, who was snoring lightly with her mouth open, drooling a little bit. I snorted, being the lady that I am.

The train ride drug on and on for what seemed like an eternity, but it finally ended, stopping with a jerk that threw Gwen's head back against the seat. She woke with the weirdest reaction, first jumping onto her feet with a war cry before loosing her footing and falling.

"Good gate, Gwen, are you alright?" I asked her, holding a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing.

"Huh? Oh yeah.. Fine." She stood back up, a cross look on her face.

I broke into loud laughter, causing Gwen to give me a small glare before leaving the train. I followed in a fit of giggles. "Laugh it up..." She muttered, apparently not in a good mood after being woken up.

Winry immediately began squealing, running around and checking out the automail in various shops, her face flushed with excitement.

"Shut up.." Gwen mumbled, looking away.

"Incredible! 51 straight wins!" I heard from the center of the crowd. I turned around to look. "No way you can beat this guy! Metallic arm wrestling contest! Limited only to challengers with automail arms! Entry fee is 10,000 cens! Take home the pot if you win!"

After fighting my way to the middle where I could actually see, I was faced with a burly man with automail arms and an arrogant smirk sitting in front of a table. Another man was standing with a microphone, a greedy look deep in his eyes.

"Great! Lemme give it a shot!" A man shouted from behind me, placing an arm on my shoulder to push me out of the way, causing me to barrel into Ed.

"Dipshit.." I muttered to the myself, separating myself from my friend.

The guy stood on the other side of the table. "I just got a new arm today. Lemme test out it's limits."

"Oh, you seem pretty confident, buddy." The other guy chuckled.

"Ready, steady.. GO!" The announcer shouted.

In an instant, the burly man had slammed the other guy's arm onto the table, pulling the arm right off. Wires showed from the inside.

"Is this really a new arm?" The winner mocked. "Sorry, bub. Lemme get rid of this scrap for ya."

With that, the guy who had just lost his arm was crowded by a bunch of mechanics offering deals and discounts, making me sigh.

"Next up.." The guy's gaze landed on Al. "How about the big guy standing there? Wanna give it a shot?"

Al held up both of his hands. "No, I couldn't possibly-!"

"Now how about you, with the automail right arm?" The guy moved to Ed, before slapping his hand to his forehead. "Oh, sorry. A short fart like you couldn't possibly win."

Al, Winry and I stared at Ed, who was immediately raging. Before the announcer had time to move on to someone else, Ed was across from the burly dude, looking extremely agitated!

"Woah! Is this shorty really gonna go for it?" The announcer wondered out loud.

"Interesting.." The other guy murmured.

"Come on, Ed! Give 'em hell!" I cheered, standing by the side of the table, a smirk crossing my face.

"Ready, steady.. GO!"

Just as the burly ass had done to the former challenger, Ed snapped down the arm in an instant, breaking it off. I grinned at the guy, who's face looked astonished. "Sorry." Ed crushed the arm a little more. "Looks like a busy day for scrap dealers."

I didn't mention the fact that Ed obviously cheated using alchemy, not finding it too important. "Hey! I haven't seen this kind of alchemy before." A guy approached me, pointing at my arm and legs which were revealed due to my wearing a tank top and shorts that went to my knees.

What? It was hot out!

"Can I take a closer look?" A guy asked, not waiting for my answer. He grabbed onto my left arm and held it out, inspecting the automail. I sweatdropped.

"Wow. And I thought it had a much simpler mechanism."

"I see.. So it's hollow here."

"Oh, your legs are automail, too?"

I began to feel uncomfortable. "Uh.."

"Lemme see!"

"Raise that leg!"

"Take your pants, off, I-"

"FUCK NO!" I screamed in reply to the previous guy, my face an embarrassing shade of leg. I had dignity, thank you very much!

I tore away from the group with Gwen's help, not surprised to see Ed having the same trouble as I was, except when he got out he was only in his pants, whereas I -thank God- was still fully clothed.

Ed suddenly had this weird face, and after checking both of his pockets, said, "My state alchemist ID.. The silver watch is gone!"

"EH?!"

"I think you're being played, buddy." One of the guys from an automail shop said. "Must be the handywork of Paninya. She's a thief that targets tourists."

"Do you know where I can find this person? Please, that item is very important!" Ed demanded.

"Hmm.. No harm in telling you." The guy then got a grin. "But first, let me see your automail!"

There was a silence in which Ed pointed his blade at them, looking peeved. "The west main." They answered, not looking bothered. "A collector's shop called Glatz."

We immediately sprinted off towards the shop, in a hurry to get the watch back. We burst open the door to the shop, Ed shouting, "Don't move! Never open even the hood!" I guessed they were attempting to open the watch. "Bastard.." Ed muttered, walking in.

Paninya grinned, lifting up a vase with her feet. She flung it as us, ignoring the shopkeeper's cries of protest. Ed just barely caught it, looking panicked. "Hey, nice catch!" Paninya smiled before running off.

"Hey! Stop right there!" Ed spun off after her, Winry and Al on his heels. I gave Gwen a look before we both started after them. I was already tired.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know, short and half-assed, but I'm tired. I wanted to post something today because I've been working on this all day and I'll be damned if I don't post it.**

**On to the review!**

**ShonenMinecrafter1:**** Many thanks, friend! ^.^ You like the lengths? :D I'm always criticizing myself because I never think they're long enough. **

**Thank you all for reading, please leave a review because they make me feel amazingly happy and brighten my day.**

**Hoping your Monday was better than mine!**


	9. Chapter 9

Two Sides of the Same Coin

I tried to keep up with Ed and Al, who were running full speed after Paninya, but after the first while my chest began to hurt, making it harder for me to breathe, so I had to slow down. Eventually I came to a stop, leaning against a building to hold me up. I breathed in deeply, using a rhythm that had worked for me most times.

I looked down the road, not surprised to see Ed and Ad already gone. I glanced back at Gwen, saying between breaths, "You think.. We can just.. wait?"

Gwen, whose mood seemed to brighten with the stealing of Ed's watch, nodded. "Yeah, probably. They'll cause a huge explosion or something and we'll see it."

After waiting for a few minutes to catch my breath, Gwen and I started walking again, back towards the shop where they'd be showing up soon. Sure enough, when we got there, the building was already almost reduced to rubble. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. I was tired. "Do you know where they went?" I asked the shopkeeper, who looked frustrated.

He pointed to a hole in the wall. I bowed. "I'm so sorry for the trouble they've caused." I apologized before running out, Gwen right behind me. Not too far away, I came across a cage with Paninya in it, Ed, Al and Winry right outside of it.

Winry turned when she saw us walk up. "Where have you been?" She asked.

"I trailed behind because I ran out of breath and Gwen stalked me." I told her, going up to the cage. "You caught her." I smiled up at Paninya. "Not bad, most people don't last that long."

She sent me a grin while Ed huffed behind me. "You'd better step back a little." Paninya warned me. I raised my eyebrow and did as she said. She lifted her leg, and the automail produced a blade, which cut clean through the cage to let her out. "It's nothing surprising in this city. And my left knee can shoot projectiles, too." She said, shooting a small rocket at Ed.

"Both your legs are automail.. Like mine!" I announced, looking at the structure of her automail. Hey, after receiving automail for three of your limbs, you learn to pick up new ideas you want to try out.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Al muttered.

"Ha ha ha! Catch me if you ca-!" Paninya was interrupted when I grabbed her wrist with a blank look.

"Gotcha." I tightened my grip, smirking.

"Darn.." She muttered.

"Good job, Emma! Don't let that thief go!" Ed walked up to us.

"Yeah, I wanna get a look at her automail!" Winry jumped forward, anime sparkles in her eyes.

After a few minutes, we were all back up in Rush valley, Winry inspecting Paninya's automail. She rambled on and on about balance and hidden weapons, things I didn't pay much attention to. I was sitting a few feet away, yearning for music I could listen to like I always did back home. I didn't have an iPod or headphones, much less any music I knew. It seemed like a lifetime ago, when I first showed up in FMA. It was unbelievable how much time had passed.

"Oh, yeah, Paninya!" I heard Winry say. "Tell me the maker of these limbs!"

"Um, okay..." Paninya sounded kind of confused, as if she hadn't expected Winry to ask. "He lives in a remote place, you'll need a guide. I'll take you guys there, on the condition that you forget what happened today!" She offered, perking up suddenly.

"Okay! Winry agreed in a second.

"Wait a minute!" Ed yelled at her. "Don't go making decisions on your own! Winry, she attacked a soldier!"

"Minor problem!" Winry argued.

"Minor problem? Look at what happened to the town!" Ed pointed at the mess behind him, before the shopkeeper from before walked up behind him.

"Yo bro, you the one who wrecked my shop, eh?"

Ed paled as a bunch of people gathered around him, stating what damage he had done to the town. It was come to the solution that Ed would reconstruct all of the damage, which he did while complaining about Paninya.

Not too much later, our whole group plus Paninya was making our way to the girl's house, which was considerably far out of the city. It was like a desert to me, really hot out. "If you guys don't hurry I'm going to leave you here." Paninya told Ed, Al, Winry and I. Gwen, on the other hand, seemed to have days' worth of energy that kept her going for now. I envied her at times like this.

"Leave us here..." Ed muttered. "Why do I have to..."

"You sure the mechanic lives here?" Winry asked, interrupting the complaints.

"It's because the mountain's rich in ores, which is good for making mechanical limbs." Paninya explained.

"He's a loner, that's why he doesn't live in the city!" Ed decided to take the opportunity to be grumpy. Then, as if suddenly remembering, he shouted at Paninya, "Hey, give me back my watch!"

"You promised to let me off if I took you to the mechanic's house! We had a deal!" She protested!"

"I'm not the one who made a deal with you.." The blonde grumbled.

I frowned during their argument, placing my hand on my lower ribcage, where it was starting to get sore. Now that I thought of it, breathing was beginning to get difficult. I couldn't wait to lie down and sleep. Usually, when I did that, the pain would either disappear or become so minor I would fail to notice it.

"Ems, you okay?" Gwen asked me quietly.

I nodded and sent her a smile. "Yeah, just a little tired."

"I brought some guests today!" Paninya announced when she entered the house, closing the door behind us. "This is a mechanic, Winry. She's interested in Mr. Tommy's works."

"Didn't expect a young girl to be interested in mechanics.." The guy in there said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey, Paninya! You brought friends here today?" A lady asked, smiling at us.

"Afternoon, Sadila!" Paninya waved.

"Just in time, I made some tea snacks!" Sadila walked back into the kitchen.

I looked at Gwen. "What are tea snacks?" I asked her.

"Just roll with it." She told me, giving a business-like nod.

"I'm Lear!" The man introduced himself. "Lear Ricardo! This is my wife, Sadila." Lear wrapped an arm around Sadila. "The loner is my dad, Tommy!"

In another room was Tommy, sitting with a stern expression that made me slightly nervous. "Mr. Tommy! Good afternoon!" Paninya greeted him. I heard Tommy say something from the other room, but decided not to listen in. I walked back out to the others and sat on the edge of the chair, taking slightly deeper breaths than I normally did, like usual after running a bunch. I was quiet, somewhat afraid of the people that I didn't know. Which, of course, was silly. They didn't seem to be bad people.

I noticed Ed and Al standing around Lear and Sadila, so I stood back up and walked over. Sadila was in a chair, smiling, Lear right behind her. I glanced down at her stomach, which was big due to her pregnancy. I stood halfway behind Al, feeling slightly shy.

Sadila noticed me and smiled, friendly. "Would you like to feel it?" She asked, hand on her stomach.

"Can I?" I asked, my voice quiet.

"Of course!"

I stepped out from behind Al and walked forward, reaching out with my flesh hand and laying it on her stomach. A few seconds after I did, I felt an impact, almost causing me to jerk back my hand. "I-It kicked!" I exclaimed, a childish grin lighting up my face.

Sadila laughed gently. "Thinking about how I have a little life inside me is really unbelievable..."

"The baby stays inside his mom for 280 days before coming into the real world." Lean said. "It's unbelievable. Nobody tells the baby but he comes out after 280 days. Even if he's tiny, he's still alive."

"Does it hurt?" Gwen asked, poking Sadila's stomach. I would have facepalmed.

Sadila shook her head, smile never leaving her face. It was easy to see how happy she was.

"Edward!" Winry called. "Come over here, quickly!"

As Edward walked off, I looked back over at Sadila, who reminded me so very much of my own mother that it almost hurt. I felt so lonely without my mom. I had never thought I would feel this way without her.

"Are you alright, dear?" Sadila asked me, causing me to look up at her.

"Yeah." I answered. "I was just getting a little nostalgic. You'll be a great mother. I'm positive the baby will be happy."

"Thank you.." Sadila sounded slightly moved.

We were interrupted by yelling coming from Ed, Winry, and Tommy. I remembered in an instant. That was the part where Ed learned he could have been taller and Winry asks to be taken on as Tommy's apprentice, a request that he turns down.

"I'm sorry." Lear sweatdropped. "My Dad's pretty stubborn. You might as well give up."

"Hey! Go home now!" Tommy yelled at us, scowling.

"We can't go back!" Gwen pointed outside at the rain.

"Wait till the rain stops then go back!" Tommy told her.

"Yessir!" Gwen saluted, before going about whatever it was that she was doing. As long as she wasn't breaking anything, I guess.

I sat down on the couch, my legs and arm aching. "Aw man, this is no good." I muttered to myself, resting my head back. As I did so, I saw Ed standing right behind me, looking straight into my eyes. I yanked my head back up, cheeks reddening slightly. I turned around. "What's up?"

"Are you okay? That was weird." Ed raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing." I deadpanned. "The weather always makes my arm and legs ache, so I decided to sit down." I looked out the window, unable to hide the fact that I had a childish urge to run outside and play in the rain.

"It's not that bad." Ed sat down next to me.

"I guess." I shrugged. "Still annoying, though."

There was an awkward silence for about a minute until Ed spoke up. "Back there, when we were with Sadila, you looked upset." He told me.

I wasn't sure whether or not to be surprised that he could tell. "Not really, just nostalgic. I was thinking of Mom." I admitted.

"Did you find any leads?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. None. Neither has Gwen. Sometimes it feels like I'll never get home."

"You will, though. Al and I are helping you, right? Don't give up so easily."

I looked up at Ed to find his golden irises looking at me. I had always thought his eyes were pretty. "Okay." I grinned. "Thanks."

"Brother, come look at this!" Al called out from the other room. Ed stood up and walked off. I sighed when he was gone, sitting back all the way into the soft couch. It felt good to just relax for once, instead of always being on the move. Travel, though, had always been for me. Seeing new sights, experiencing more adventures. Especially with Ed and Al.

At the thought of the older brother, my stomach tingled slightly, as if I was nervous. Thinking back to the conversation I had with Gwen in the hospital, I realized that she was right. I had a little anime crush on Ed back home. Nothing big, though, considering I always thought he didn't exist. Just enough that it stayed with me in actually meeting him. It seemed to have grown, little by little, ever since I came here.

I would only admit this to myself, but it was obvious that I liked him. To me, at least. Probably to Gwen as well, but everyone else seemed oblivious to it. There was a one in one-hundred chance that he actually felt anything for me, and I knew that, which was why I felt so stupid. I looked up at Winry, who was talking with Paninya.

From what I knew, she liked Ed, too. It would be unfair for me to feel this way as well. So why did I? I growled at myself, whacking my head lightly.

"Emma, what are you doing?"

I looked up at a frowning Winry, taken aback. Wasn't she just-?

"I-I, uh.. N-Nothing!" I stammered, blushing.

"You're a horrible liar!" Winry accused me, plopping next to me on the couch. "Are you okay?"

Question of the day, I tell you. "Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important." Damn, that last part slipped out. 'Just thinking?' Of course that would catch her attention!

"Like I said, you're a horrible liar. If you were hitting your head, you're obviously bothered. Spill. We're friends, right?"

"Of course we're friends! It's just.."

"Just what?"

I looked down, letting my bangs cover my eyes slightly. "I don't want to make you mad."

"You won't, I promise!" Winry sounded genuinely concerned.

"Well, I guess.." I paused for a moment, before mustering up all of my courage and speaking agian. "Winry, do you like Ed? As in, like-like?"

"E-Eh?! Where's this coming from?" Winry asked, a scarlet blush covering her cheeks. I looked away again, cursing myself. Of course she did. Look at me, messing up every possible friendship ever. "Wait, don't tell me.. Emma, do you..?"

"It doesn't matter.. Sorry I asked!" I couldn't wait for this conversation to end. I felt so awkward right now.

"Of course it matters! I don't see you on the verge of tears every day!" Winry looked as if she felt a mix of concern and agitation. I jerked a hand up to my eye, and sure enough, I was tearing up. I cursed myself again. "So, do you?" She asked again.

"I..." I couldn't finish my sentence without it ending weirdly, so I just nodded lightly in response.

"Geez, what kind of friend do you take me for?" Winry frowned at me, her blue eyes becoming intense. "Why would I be mad for something like that? You idiot. Even if I do like him, I'm not going to hate you just because you do, too. I'm not that insensitive!"

"Sorry.." I muttered.

"Don't apologize. Personally, it looks to me like you have a decent chance with him. You're around him a lot, you know?" I looked back up at Winry. I knew it probably took guts to tell someone you think they have a better chance with someone they love than they do with you.

"I don't think so, but.. Thanks, Winry." I pulled her into a hug, which she returned.

"Of course. Don't be afraid to talk to me."

I heard clatters from the other room that Sadila was in, and apparently Winry heard them too, because she pulled away and stood up. I followed her and opened the door where I saw Sadila on the floor, holding her stomach.

"Mr. Lear, your wife!" Winry shouted out the door.

"Sadila! What's wrong, are you okay?!" Lear hurried into the room and helped her to sit.

"NOW." Sadila said, her face looking slightly pained.

There was a silence before we all panicked at once.

"B-But you said it was due in half a month!" My insides were jumping all around.

"I was feeling unwell this evening, but I didn't think it was.." Sadila muttered.

"What did you say?!" Tommy burst into the room.

"Everyone stay calm!" Sadila tried to calm them all, but it didn't seem to work out much.

Tommy threw on his coat, saying that he couldn't bring Sadila to a hospital in weather like this. He rode away on a horse quickly. Lear helped Sadila into a bed. "Just hang on until the doctor gets here." He told her.

"I don't know how much longer I can hang on.." Sadila groaned.

"Re-Relax! Dad's gone to get the doctor!"

"Eveyone stay calm!"

Boy, this place was hectic. I had studied childbirth in health class, but I didn't know how much use I would be in a real life situation! I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

The door opened and Tommy showed. "This can't be!" He panted. "The bridge.."

My eyes widened. Ed, Al, Winry, and Tommy went to assess the situation, but I stayed back just in case anything happened. Soon, all but Tommy came back. At that time, Sadila's water had already broke. I told Winry, and the two of us set into action-mode. None of us had thought of Gwen, who was sleeping like a rock in the other room.

"Mr. Lear! Come here!" Winry ordered. He complied, coming into the room.

"Everyone's going to help!" I told them. "We're going to birth the baby!"

"Do you have any experience?" Lear asked, obviously panicked.

"Not really, but I've studied and I know the process of childbirth." I told them, before going serious again.

"Everyone's going to contribute!" Winry said. "So get ready, because this is going to be tiring!"

* * *

**A/N: Hello, it is I! I am back! I've missed you all! :D**

**I'm sorry, I'm horrible. T_T I'm not going to lie, I had no inspiration these past few days, and just got revived today. School sucks. We got alphabetical seating order during lunch, and everyone at my table is making it a competition to see who can sit farthest away from me. That, and school is a bitch anyways. I'm so fucking sleep deprived ogod.**

**Anyways, to the reviews! :D**

**chubakka: Thank you thank you thank you! C: I'm so glad to hear that someone thinks so highly of my stories! Your reviews made my day, and after reading them I thought: 'Well, I really have to update now or I'll hate myself forever.' So thanks again! :D  
**

*****IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*****

**So, everyone, I am extending the updating schedule to once or twice a week, because school is getting in the way, and not only do I need to write, but I need to keep up my grades and do my homework. But to make up for that, I'm considering making another Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood story, but different from this current one. I'm not sure what I want to do with it, (Envy, I was thinking) so I won't post anything right away, but I'm thinking of it. Tell me your thoughts! ^.^**

**So, with that, I gotta go. Please please review, they make me so happy and inspire me to write more. Thanks a bunch for reading, and remember that tomorrow's Friday! :D**

**G'Boi!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Seems I've been forgetting a disclaimer. Welp, here you go.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or FMAB or anything relating to it! I only own Emma, she is my OC. Gwen, on the other hand, is an actual person. So I don't own her either.**

Two Sides of the Same Coin

With that said, Winry began to give everyone a job, and I entered the room Sadila was in. My hands were shaking at seeing her in pain. It was making me nervous to think that I was going to help in childbirth. I had only ever read about it in Health class, and even that was months ago.

I ran over the process in my head, trying to remember every little detail. Even missing the tiniest step could result in something bad.

Winry came in a bit later, her eyes wide as she was deep in thought. "Hey." I put my hand on her shoulder, my knees trembling slightly. "Come on, I'll help you." Winry nodded in reply.

Awhile later, I was sitting against the wall in the room, feeling more exhausted than ever. We were finally done, but what was actually a few hours seemed like a lifetime or two. The apron I had been wearing was splattered with some blood here and there, but so far it seemed that the baby was okay. I admit to barely doing anything. Winry had taken care of most of the work.

I took in a shaky breath as the door opened and Paninya fell to her knees in the hallway. A few seconds later, Ed ran into the room. He saw the blood on my shirt, and his eyes widened considerably. "Hey, what happened?!" He demanded.

I pointed at Sadila, Lear, and the baby in reply. Lear was holding the baby, and Sadila was laying in bed, panting and sweating. They were both smiling, though, because the birth had gone as well as it could have without anyone with experience.

"The.. The baby.." Ed stammered, before him and Al both let out a cheer, livening up the room a bit.

I looked over at Winry, and the two of us exchanged a smile. She looked as tired as I did, but her eyes were shining. I pushed myself up so I was sitting up. I felt to tired to stand, I was about to collapse.

"Good job, Sadila!" Lear congratulated her, handing her the baby.

"We have to thank Winry and Emma, too." Sadila said, her voice hoarse.

"Time to wash the baby!" Winry said, still sitting, as she began to take off her apron.

"That's wonderful!" Ed exclaimed. "The baby's broned! That's great!"

"You're talking like a little kid." Winry told him.

"Because this is the birth of a new life!" Ed replied, a smile on his face. "Alchemists throughout centuries were unable to create life. But a woman is able to carry a life in terms of 280 days!"

Winry frowned up at him "Don't compare the sanctity of life with science!"

"Um, sorry. Professional interest. But it's still wonderful! Humans really are amazing." Winry's frown turned to a smile. Ed looked at her, then me, before saying. "You guys were amazing, too!"

I muttered a 'thanks' as Winry laughed, saying, "Praise me more!"

"I'm beat!" I announced, trying to pull myself up using the wall. "I'm just going to go collapse on the couch somewhere. If I make it that far."

"There's a guest room." Sadila told me. "You're welcome to use it." She gave me directions, and I nodded my thanks. I couldn't stay up for the actual doctor to come. I was so tired, almost like the time I had jet lag.

I leaned against the wall, this time standing, before slowly stumbling out of the room. "Hey, do you need any help?" Ed asked me, steadying me by pulling me up by my arm. I shrugged.

As soon as I got to my room, I slipped out of the apron and collapsed onto the soft mattress, out before I could think of covering up.

The next day, Ed, Al, Winry, Paninya, Gwen and I set out for Rush Valley again. It seemed that after I had left, Tommy told Winry of a mechanic who was looking for an apprentice. The six of us had to run to catch a carriage that would take us there, since the bridge was broken. I took the liberty of filling Gwen in on what had happened, who was pretty surprised that she had slept through Sadila's screaming.

When we got to Rush Valley, I had to run even faster to keep up with Ed, Al, and Gwen so we could get to the train station on time. When we got there, the train was beginning to move. "Hey! The train's leaving! Guys, hurry!" Ed exclaimed, sprinting off.

I hurried after him, Gwen on my heels. "Then, it's goodbye!" Winry called after us. "Have a safe trip!"

"You too! Train hard!" Ed yelled back, grabbing my wrist to jump onto the train. Gwen jumped after us and turned back to Winry and Paninya, waving dramatically. Winry frowned. The two hadn't exactly become friends.

"Granny must be worried! Give her a call!" Ed told Winry, who was still running along the train, which was speeding up.

"I don't need you to remind me!"

"Better steal some new techniques from the old man! Next time, fit me with a new metal arm!" Ed laughed.

Winry stopped running, and I could just barely hear her yell, "Leave it to me!"

"Ugh, another train." I complained as I plopped down in a seat. "I'm so sick of these already."

Gwen sat next to me, and the brothers again took a different booth. There wouldn't be enough room if they didn't. "Guess where we're going next!" She said in a sing-song voice, grinning.

Izumi crossed my mind, and I paled slightly. I admit that she scared me slightly, especially since it seemed that I was going to meet her in real life. "Oh, yay. Aren't you nervous?"

"Little bit." Gwen shrugged. "But I can always take shelter behind you, with all your automail glory."

"Thanks." I remarked sarcastically. "Good to know you rely on me so much."

Gwen chuckled. "Right? This is going to be amazing."

"Sometimes I wonder how it's possible that a human being is as dense as you are."

"Maybe I'm not human."

"A logical hypothesis."

I continued to make small talk with my friend throughout the ride. Train rides were so boring, but they were adittedly much more amusing when Gwen was here. Her and I roleplayed for different anime during the ride, earning weird looks when Gwen raised her voice to yell.

The train finally halted at Dublith, Gwen and I standing up as soon as it did, restless. "Let's go!" Gwen declared, throwing her fist into the air.

Ed and Al nodded, obviously nervous about the whole Izumi deal. Honestly, I couldn't blame them. I just hoped Izumi wouldn't find anything to hold against me. The four of us left the train, and Gwen skipped down the road. I wasn't sure if she was purposely trying to make me even more nervous, or just showing off that she didn't seem to be as worried as I did.

We stopped in front of the meat shop, Ed sweating. Al probably would have been too, if he could. The building seemed to loom overhead.

"We've finally come here.." Ed muttered. "I hope Teacher isn't home!" Al quickly agreed.

"WELCOME!" A man burst out of the door. "Please, come in!"

Out of shock, I fell over onto my ass pathetically, almost letting a small shriek escape. I was reminded slightly of my brothers, who loved to scare me like this though I always yelled at them afterwards.

"Huh? Aren't you Edward? Long time no see!" The same guy grinned.

"Are you Mr. Maison?" Ed asked.

Mr. Maison began to laugh, patting Ed's head. "You're short as ever!" He exclaimed, obviously hitting a nerve. "Who's the guy in the armor and the two over here?"

I poked my index fingers together shyly as Al answered. "Oh, I'm Alphonse! They're Emma and Gwen, our friends!"

Aww, I'm their friend!

"Are you here to see Izumi?" Mr. Maison asked. "Hold on, I'll go get him. You're just in time! Mr. Izumi just got back from his trip!"

I followed behind Ed and Al up to the door, kicking a small pebble lightly. Man, I hated meeting new people. Gwen peered out behind me, spouting a careless smile.

Stomps came from inside, closing in on the door. A few seconds later, a huge man with dark hair and a beard appeared in the doorway. What scared me most about him, though, was the huge butcher knife he was holding. His eyes snapped over to us. "Ah? How do you do? Long time no see..." He trailed off. "... Edward?"

Ed smiled nervously.

Sig's eyes suddenly widened, and he pulled back his arm before thrusting it back forwards, straight for Ed. Instead of hitting him or something, which was what I expected, Sig's hand landed on Ed's head and he said, "You're here. You've grown!"

Ed muttered something. Sig didn't pay attention and turned to Al, Gwen, and I. "And you three are..?"

"I'm Alphonse!" Al told him.

I pointed at myself. "Emma," Then gestured to Gwen, "And Gwen."

"Really? You have grown really tall!" Sig patted Al's head and looked down at Gwen and I. "A pleasure." Gwen sent him a wide grin. I sometimes evied her easy-going nature. "What's the matter?" Sig then asked Ed.

"I have some questions for Teacher."

"Then let's go!" Sig said. He opened the door. "Mason, look after the shop for awhile."

"Okay!"

We started down the road, Sig leading the way. I trailed along, second to last in the row with Gwen skipping happily. It was pretty hot in Dublith, but not as bad as it had been in Rush Valley. It reminded me of the summers back home. It would get really hot at times, and the winters were really cold. Before living in the Unites States, I had lived in Europe, where the summers and winters were both mild. The extreme temperatures had caught me off guard.

I frowned upon thinking about home. I didn't think back as often as I did, but when I caught myself, I always felt bad. I couldn't help wondering if my mom had given up yet. Gwen had told me back in the hospital that Mom never gave up, that she thought I was still alive. Was that hope still there? And what about Dad and my many brothers? What about all of my friends?

I bit my lower lip. I had left them all hanging, with no warning whatsoever. Sure, it was a surprise for me and all, but at least I knew where I was. There was no way I could tell any of them that I was alright.

I admit that once, back in Central, I had tried to phone my home number and both of my parents' cell phones. I had even tried calling a few friends. I should have expected it not to work, and in a way, I knew deep down that it wouldn't, but the disappointment had been slightly overwhelming. I didn't say much for the rest of the day.

My eyes burned, catching me off guard. Instead of blinking them back, my hand jerked up and swiped at the moisture, spreading it around slightly. I looked ahead, hoping no one had noticed.

"Emma, are you okay?" Al suddenly asked me, quietly as to not catch anyone else's attention.

I looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah, just got something in my eye."

I was surprised at how easy the lie came, even if it wasn't a very good lie. I hated how I had become so good at thinking up lies at the spot.

Al probably would have sent me a disbelieving look and didn't say anything. I think he understood how I was feeling. Al was so sweet.

With that, Sig leaned over to an opened window. "Hey, Izumi, the Elric shorty is here to see you!" He called.

"Ed and Al?" I heard the exclamation from inside.

"Can you get up?" Sig asked.

"Relax! I'm feeling fine today!" Izumi told him stubbornly.

I waited with Gwen behind Ed and Al, more or less hiding. Izumi already seemed much more intimidating in real life. Footsteps came from inside, and the door flew open, hitting Ed and sending him flying.

I jumped back.

"News of you has reached us, my foolish student!"

* * *

**A/N: ASDFGHJKL!**

**No! I'm so sorry, I swear! Things are insane here! I've been having family problems and personal problems and crap, and the last two weeks and more to come were so full of testing. I'm so sorry. And this chapter's short, too. I feel so bad, I never meant to take so long. ;-; Don't hate me!**

**chubakka: xD Thanks! Yeah, I usually reply to reviews in the author's notes, because to me it wouldn't make sense to review replies to my own story. 'Hey, look, I have a bunch of reviews, only because half of them are mine! :D' Yeah, no. xP I'm glad you like the story, though. I feel bad for not updating for so long. q_q**

**Rainbowmnms:**** Thank you! :D I'm glad you like it. And I would like to think the world-traveling aspect is unique, but there are a lot of authors who have used the same idea, and I think their stories are better than mine. But I'm glad you think so! :)**

**Again, I'm a million times sorry for my lack of updates and the short chapter. I won't be updating much for awhile because of all of the testing and crap that's going on for at least another week. When it's finally summer break I'll be able to write much more, though.**

**Happy Mother's Day! :)**


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